Welcome to Our New Website
The re-launch of our web site is an opportunity for us to share with you our critically important mission during a period of considerable economic opportunity. The ability to engage in an honest days’ work, and to be compensated with an honest days’ pay is a fundamental American value. However, while this holds true for many, there are more than 1 million Americans who do not currently have a pathway into employment. At Senior Service America, we build that pathway for our older residents, especially the underserved groups of low-income women, our nation’s proud veterans, and returning citizens.
Older Americans represent a vital segment of our nation’s economy. According to many experts, our nation’s longevity economy contributes nearly $8 trillion towards GDP and supports over 89 million jobs as well as $4.7 trillion in wages and salaries.
Our nation’s labor force is also increasingly dependent on older workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, older workers will represent 25% of our labor force – the largest single segment of the workforce – by 2024. Older workers matter.
For nearly six decades, Senior Services America has been a national leader delivering workforce opportunities to low-income, older Americans. We must now confront a new challenge. Technology and the changing nature of work are promising a dynamic – yet uncertain – future. According to the Joint Center for Economics and Political Studies, 31% of Latinos, and 27% of African Americans are concentrated in jobs that are highly susceptible to automation. Occupations such as tellers, bus drivers, and cashiers, will in all likelihood disappear. Our future begins now.
We must urgently prepare our workforce for what comes next. We must ensure that our low-income older workers remain competitive in an increasingly age-dependent workforce. We must leverage technology to remain relevant and competitive. And, we must seek through our programs and with new partnerships ways to make available the necessary training and tools for our older workers to succeed. In other words, we must be bold and lead because the future of work is already here.
Senior Service America is evolving. We recently launched an affiliated non-profit, SSA Community Partners to innovate new approaches and advance best practices. Our experience means we are ideally suited to tackle the challenge of bringing underserved Americans, including women, Veterans, and returning citizens, back into the workforce.
This is truly an exciting time for the organization. I invite you to join us on this journey.
