Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-13
SUPERANNUATION in INDUSTRY,
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

cashiers and accountants in the United
States only ITO per cent are more
than As years of age. OF the drafts
men only 9 per cent are above that
age.
The income tax returns might sug-
gest that by the age of As most of
the young men have become Million
aires, but common sense refutes any
such statement. There Is no question
that the invasion of practically every
line Of work, profession or industry
by women has had q great deal to 40
with the decrease in the number Of
jobs open to middle-aged men, but rec
IGNITION of that phenomenon does not
In any way mitigate the situation.
The speed of the machine age de-
mands youth. There Is subconscious
prejudice on the part of employers
against men past the flush Of youth.
The machines which grind out every
thing from steam locomotives to COM
mon pins with tireless energy demand
tireless human energy to serve them.
and employers, while not admitting any
prejudice against older men, instinc-
lively fear that the machine may pc
slowed up II served by any but youth
bursting with vitality, and the slowing
up of the machine means diminished
production and loss OF profits.
No Age Limit Set.
There is no general conscious dis
elimination or preludlce. 1noeeo, q sur
vey made by the National Association OF
Manufacturers reported that In nearly
three Quarters of the manufacturing
plants in the United States there was
no hard-and-fast age limit at all. NO
companies at all were found which dis
charged men merely because they had
reached a certain age. Practically AL
-, 1Nfr
employees although past middle age
Eight per cent of the plants, however,
had rules against taking on any alb
solutely new employees more than =
years of age.
In general. the survey found, employ
ment is on the basis of fitness for the
Job, mechanical or clerical. Neverthe-
less, the employer has fallen into an at
titude of preferring youth. Even the
reasons for these preferences have been
sounded. In plants where such age
limits as IS years have been set, reasons
have been discovered as follows: Twen-
| ty-two per cent Of the plants set the
limit because of physical reasons, Il
per cent set the limit for the purpose OF
| preventing the crowding out OF much
older men already in employ some years,
belief that the man past As slows down
mentally as well as physically. The re-
mainder set such a limit because Of the
existence in their establishments of old
age pension systems and the like and
the employment of men already past
their youth would mean early overload
! ing of the relief facilities.
| A great variety of reasons enter into
the background for the prejudice
against older men. One important one
is the fact that blanket insurance, which
is increasing rapidly, Is procurable by a
manufacturing company, for all its en-
! ployes, at lower rate II the average
| age Of the workers Is relatively young.
There is another side Of the picture.
While machines are performing almost
every conceivable manufacturing oper-
alton today, there remain a few lines Of
work in which highly skilled handwork
is requisite. In these, old men will be
found at the benches, and as there Is no
substantial crop of young men coming
on who have acquired the necessary
skill in these specialized lines. when the
remaining veterans lay down their In
Struments for the last time, their
replacement will constitute another
problem.