Report: One in four older workers are planning to change jobs, but they have concerns

AARP and Indeed launch a new job search platform and career resources hub for older workers and job seekers

May 22, 2025

Americans are staying in the workforce longer. In fact, there are 38 million people aged 55 and older currently in the labor force, a number two-and-a-half times higher than four decades ago. They may be remaining in the workforce longer, but they, like workers of all ages, don’t necessarily want to stay in the same job.

A new survey out today from nonprofit AARP finds that nearly one in four workers over the age of 50 (24%) are planning on changing jobs this year. Despite that intention to move to a new workplace, 65% of that group say they’ve not taken the steps to move forward with those plans anytime in the last two years.

The reason these older workers aren’t taking steps to find new jobs? According to AARP, they are concerned that age discrimination will hurt their chances of finding a new role. Many also feel they lack the tools, and even the information needed, to help them compete against workers younger than them.

Putting Your Skills to Work

AARP and job search site Indeed has a new resource they believe can help prepare older workers for today’s job market. The organizations have teamed up to launch a job search platform and career resources hub.

“The hub provides resources and tools to help older workers stay competitive in the job market and find a job that meets their needs, whether that be opportunities to learn new skills and advance in their careers or flexibility to accommodate caregiving responsibilities,” according to a news release from AARP and Indeed.

The hub includes job listings, as well as free tools and resources, including resume assistance and interview preparation.

“The new tools we’re launching with Indeed will help older job seekers more confidently navigate today’s job market,” says Carly Roszkowski, Vice President of Financial Resilience Programming, AARP. “With the number of older workers projected to grow significantly over the next decade, addressing their needs and concerns will benefit both workers and employers.”

“Older workers bring unmatched experience, insight, and leadership to the workplace, and they remain a vital part of today’s workforce,” adds Carmen Graf, VP of Marketing and co-sponsor of the All Generations Empowered Inclusion Business Resource Group (IBRG) at Indeed. “Through our collaboration with AARP, we’re expanding access to meaningful job opportunities while equipping experienced job seekers with tools and resources to demonstrate their value and thrive in their careers.”

Check out the AARP and Indeed job search platform and career resources hub here.

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.