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“Elected officials are right to value older adults as engaged citizens and active participants in our democracy. But if government recognizes the value of older adults at the ballot box, it should also recognize their value in the workplace.”
Last year, while attending City & State New York’s annual New York Aging Summit, I listened as Ryan A. Murray, executive deputy commissioner and chief program officer of the New York City Department for the Aging, posed a simple question to the audience.
He first asked how many organizations offered internship programs. Nearly every hand in the room went up. He then explained what a “returnship” program was—a structured, paid program that helps experienced professionals return to the workforce after an extended absence—and asked how many organizations offered one.
Not a single hand was raised.
The silence in that room said more than any speech could have.
Although Executive Deputy Commissioner Murray directed his question to representatives of nonprofit and community organizations that advocate for older adults, there was one additional audience I wish had been asked the same question: elected officials.
Every year, elected officials honor older adults through proclamations, appreciation luncheons, awards, and speeches celebrating their lifetime of service. Those gestures are meaningful and appreciated. But they do little to address one of the greatest challenges many older New Yorkers face: finding meaningful employment.
After the celebrations end, many of those same older adults continue struggling to reenter the workforce because of age discrimination, outdated hiring practices, and the mistaken belief that experience has an expiration date.
If government truly values the wisdom, experience, and contributions of older New Yorkers, it should do more than celebrate them once a year.
Government shouldn’t just celebrate seniors—it should hire them.
This attention is understandable. Older adults are among the nation’s most civically engaged citizens. According to AARP, Americans age 65 and older have had the highest voter turnout of any age group for decades, while voters age 50 and older routinely account for more than half of the electorate.
Elected officials are right to value older adults as engaged citizens and active participants in our democracy. But if government recognizes the value of older adults at the ballot box, it should also recognize their value in the workplace.
Unfortunately, experienced workers age 45 and older often encounter significant barriers when attempting to return to the workforce despite decades of valuable experience.
Although laws such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibit age discrimination, many older workers continue to face hiring decisions influenced by outdated assumptions about technology, adaptability, or career longevity.
This isn’t just a perception. According to AARP, older workers historically remain unemployed longer after a job loss than younger workers, underscoring the need for innovative pathways back into the workforce.
Government is not immune from this challenge. Legislative offices, like many other employers, often have relatively few experienced workers despite the institutional knowledge, professional expertise, and life perspective they can bring to public service.
So what can elected officials do to better connect experienced workers with employment opportunities?
Some have already taken meaningful steps. In October 2025, for example, State Sen. Cordell Cleare hosted a job fair in Harlem specifically for job seekers age 50 and older. Initiatives like Sen. Cleare’s deserve recognition because they acknowledge the unique employment challenges experienced by older workers and provide valuable opportunities to connect them with prospective employers.
But job fairs, by their nature, depend on private employers to do the hiring. Government can go one step further by becoming part of the solution itself.
Rather than simply connecting experienced workers with employers, elected officials can establish returnship programs within government.
Imagine a six-month paid legislative returnship where experienced professionals work alongside elected officials assisting with constituent services, casework, community outreach, scheduling, communications, and legislative research while updating their professional skills and rebuilding their résumés.
Rather than asking the private sector alone to solve the problem, government should lead by example.
On the legislative side, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins could establish a pilot returnship program by providing participating legislators with additional funding—for example, enough to support two temporary or part-time legislative aide positions during the January through June legislative session. Similarly, Gov. Kathy Hochul could establish pilot returnship programs within state agencies through an executive order or budget initiative.
New York already has experience creating innovative public-sector workforce programs. New York City’s Silver Star program, for example, allows retired city employees to return to part-time, project-based work without jeopardizing their pensions. While Silver Star serves retirees rather than unemployed job seekers, it demonstrates that government can successfully design flexible employment programs that tap into the experience of older adults. A statewide returnship program would build upon that concept by helping experienced professionals reenter the workforce.
To ensure the program remains focused on its intended purpose, several safeguards should accompany any pilot initiative. The New York State Department of Labor should centrally administer the application process and refer pre-screened candidates to participating offices for interviews and final hiring decisions.
Priority should be given to applicants age 45 and older who are unemployed, underemployed, returning to the workforce after caregiving responsibilities, retired individuals seeking to resume public service, or military veterans transitioning into civilian employment.
Participating offices should also submit an annual public report summarizing the number of applicants, interviews conducted, participants hired, program completion rates, demographic information, and the number of participants who later secured permanent employment. Public reporting would promote transparency, discourage favoritism, and provide lawmakers with data to evaluate whether the pilot should be expanded.
Although this proposal focuses on New York State government, the same concept could be adopted by county governments, municipalities, Congress, and even private employers seeking to benefit from the experience of older workers.
New York has no shortage of ceremonies honoring older adults. What it needs are more opportunities to put that experience back to work.
If government truly believes older New Yorkers still have valuable skills to contribute, it should prove it—not with another proclamation, but with a job offer.
Don’t just celebrate seniors. Hire them.
Leon Tulton is a Bronx community advocate and former legislative staff member.