Donna Slagle would give anything to be riding the bus to school again.

Until she was laid off last June, the 80-year-old woman was a bus monitor for special-needs children in Lawrence. But even at her age, retirement is not an option.

“I’ve been around people all my life; I’m lost when I’m not,” she said. “I really enjoyed working with all those kids.”

Slagle was let go because of her worsening eyesight, she said, but she thinks her age was the bigger reason. Regardless of the reason for her unemployment, Slagle wants a new job, both for the companionship and the income.

She is not alone. Employment advisers who work with older job seekers say they are seeing more senior citizens looking for work simply to cover living expenses. But despite their desire, finding a job to fit many older workers can be tough. Rising unemployment makes it even harder for seniors, who often find themselves competing with younger workers for jobs.

“With the Social Security age increasing, some people are going to have to work until 67 or 68,” said Ann Carlin Ozegovic, employment specialist at the Lawrence Workforce Center, 2540 Iowa. “But for these people it’s a work-ethic thing. If you’re healthy enough to work, you work.”

For Slagle, it’s also a necessity to make ends meet.

She says she spends more than $225 of her savings each month to keep prescriptions filled. And while she could survive without a new job, she said she would not be able to live the way she wanted.

Not many seniors are so lucky these days, said Carol Ball, who mentors older workers as part of the Let’s Help program.

Erv Isbell, Lawrence, mops up a spill in an aisle at Hy-Vee, 3504 Clinton Parkway. Isbell, 73 and retired, works 20 hours each week at Hy-Vee as a greeter to help augment his income. Isbell helped out on the floor on Friday.

“It used to be older people would want a part-time job so they could spend part of the year in Arizona or something,” she said. “Now they need a job to live.”

Many are one major illness away from bankruptcy, Ball said. But as senior bankruptcies have increased and the economy continues to drag, the job market is getting even more difficult for older people.

Unemployment rate

The national unemployment rate fell over the past six months, from 6.3 percent in August 2003 to 5.6 percent at the end of February. But the unemployment rate in Lawrence rose to 4.8 percent, up from 4.1 percent, during the same period, according to the Kansas Department of Human Resources.

Because there are more young workers seeking employment, said Charlotte Simmons, a senior employment mentor, the number of positions available for seniors has diminished even as the number of seniors looking for jobs is growing. Simmons works for the Older Kansans Employment Program, a state-funded organization that provides employment placement services for older Kansans.

“Older people just aren’t getting enough money,” she said. “I believe more and more seniors will be coming in and asking for help.”

But the challenge can be bigger than just a tightening job market, Ozegovic said.

“There aren’t that many jobs where seniors would have the skills to do the work,” she said. “Any given day only two or three job listings out of 80, would a senior have the computer skills or labor ability to do the job.”

Hard to compete

That’s why it’s important for seniors to be open to a variety of jobs, Simmons said. Improving their computer skills is a good first step.

That’s the approach being taken by Helen Ermeling, who also is considerably beyond traditional retirement age.

Ermeling, who would only say she is a “golden oldie” when asked her age, said she was working on her computer skills at the Lawrence Workforce Center in hopes of landing a job.

“I’m not looking for a career,” she said. “I just want some supplemental income and to stay busy.”

If she doesn’t find work, she is worried that living expenses could become a problem.

“I’ve been out of work for three months,” Ermeling said. “It’s really starting to have an impact.”

But despite searching since December, she is finding it hard to compete.

“I hand in applications, I hand in resumes, and at no point have I had an interview,” she said.

For Slagle, having a job is also a matter of staying mobile. Since being fired by the bus company, she has spent more time at home and noticed her diabetes bothering her more. She wants a job where she can stay active by helping other seniors with mobility problems.

Willing to work

“I’ll do anything I’m capable of doing,” Slagle said. “I’ve taken care of six or seven sick people in my family and I can still do some light cleaning around people’s homes.”

Willingness notwithstanding, Simmons said some employers have concerns about older workers’ ability. Because of that, she said, it’s important for seniors to stay patient and be flexible in their job search.

Helen Ermeling, left, searches the current job listing with the help of Ann Carlin Ozegovic at the Lawrence Workforce Center, 2540 Iowa, Suite R. Ermeling, who recently lost her full-time job, searched the listing Friday.

“Being inflexible is old,” Simmons said. “When someone comes in older than me and they’re enthusiastic, they’re my heroes.”

And Slagle has no problem with enthusiasm.

“I couldn’t do a lot, but I could do something,” Slagle said. “The only problem is that vacuum sweepers and I don’t get along real well anymore.”

For Ermeling, she said it was just a matter of having the spirit to continue.

“I’m going to find a job,” she said, laughing to herself. “Unless I run out of time.”