Bradley Richardson has the resume. He has the skills. He even has the “adulting” course to prove it. But at 58, he’s staring down a brutal truth: he may never land another job—and not because he’s unqualified.
“I may never ever get hired again,” he said in a now-viral Instagram video. “Doesn’t matter how good I am…I very likely have aged out.”
Richardson’s post hit a nerve. Within days, it racked up nearly 30,000 likes and more than 4,000 comments, mostly from people who know exactly what he’s talking about. “I’m 46 and I’m already feeling it in my industry,” one user wrote. “I’m 42 and I feel this hard,” said another.
A post shared by Bradley Richardson | Advanced Adulting (@imbradleyrichardson)
Why Are Gen Xers Struggling to Find Jobs?
What he’s describing isn’t paranoia—it’s a pattern. According to a 2024 survey by Resume Now, nine out of ten workers over the age of 40 reported experiencing ageism in the workplace. Nearly half said their employer appears only to hire younger workers.
Richardson tried applying to full-time jobs last year, to see if the door was still open. It wasn’t. “It was just a miserable experience,” he said. “What the hell are you gonna do?”
In comments on his video, some shared glimmers of hope. One user said they found the “best company ever” after months of searching, even though they were “old enough to be everyone’s father.” Another said they hired a 60- and 63-year-old “because they were amazing candidates.” But stories like that are the exception, not the rule, in a job market that treats experience like expired milk.
The legal system does offer some recourse. Employment attorney Albert Rizzo told the New York Post that discriminatory patterns, like excluding older workers from promotions, projects, or even meetings, could be the basis for a claim. “Any adverse action may create a viable case,” he said.
Still, for people like Richardson, the issue goes beyond what the law can fix. It’s about how older workers are perceived—like tech-illiterate dinosaurs or liabilities with a 401(k). Never mind the decades of experience, or the fact that many would gladly outwork their younger counterparts.
“I’ll make money,” Richardson said. “But I may never get hired again.”
He’s not bitter. He’s being honest. And in a workforce that likes to slap “we’re like a family” on job ads, it’s telling who gets left out when that family gets younger.
The post This Gen Xer Thinks He May Never Get Hired Again—and He Might Be Right appeared first on VICE.
