They lost their jobs at 60. Were they too old to get new ones?
Updated Sept. 20, 2026, 12:32 p.m. ETCynthia Hennessy hit some low points after getting laid off from her corporate lawyer position in 2024, at age 61. The lowest probably came when she was rejected for a job driving the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile."When you are laid off, you can’t help but feel it’s because you aren’t any good, not smart enough, not talented," she said.There’s no good time to lose your job. But there may be no worse time than around age 60.At that age, workers are close enough to retirement that no prospective employer is likely to hire them expecting a long-term relationship."They may find themselves trapped between being too old to hire and too young to retire," said Catherine Collinson, CEO of the nonprofit Transamerica Institute.USA TODAY Shopping: Shop sales in tech, home, fashion, beauty & more curated by our editors.And what age is "too old" to get a good job? When the Transamerica Institute asked that question in a 2023 survey of employers, most companies replied diplomatically that it "depends on the person." But some employers...







