Here's good news for workers over age 40. The full impact of the Workforce 2020 document, released several years ago by the Hudson Institute, is just beginning to dawn on employers. They're finding out that older workers will soon be hot commodities for the following reasons:

• The current low unemployment rate.
• The declining number of younger workers.
• The increasing numbers of older workers.
• The lack of trained and educated workers.

According to a study by the National Institute of Manufacturers, three quarters of all job applicants are underqualified. Older workers, by contrast, receive consistently high marks for job performance, willingness to learn new skills and reliability. They are a welcome relief from a younger workforce that so often seems to have missed the class in the school of life on the value of a work ethic. Although many employers don't know it yet, the solution to their problems will likely turn out to be the very workers they've been discriminating against.

Most people are well aware of the 76 million Baby Boomers who are turning 50 at a gallop. But most employers and workers alike don't know that there are currently 16 million Americans over 55 who are working or seeking work. Or that more than 1 million people age 70 to 74 are gainfully employed. Nor are they aware, probably, that older workers are much healthier and happier than their stay-at-home age mates. Clearly, getting older and working are meant to go together.

This phenomenon is receiving attention from public and private sources. Everyone who has studied the problem agrees that education needs to occur on both sides of the divide -- older workers and their bosses need to know more about the advantages of hiring and retaining mature workers. The National Council on Aging has established a "100,000 Jobs" campaign to bring employers and workers together. To learn more about this, visit Maturity Works.

Here are a few other resources:

• The Society for Human Resource Management
  Phone: 800-444-5006

• Administration on Aging: Training programs for older workers.
  Phone: 202-619-0724

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
  Phone: 202-663-4900

• Women Work! (help for displaced homemakers)
  Phone: 202-467-6346

• AARP Working Options (a guide for midlife and older workers)
  Phone: 202-434-2277

Waiting for what's due to you is always hard, but it's easier when you've joined forces with others. Start talking to people your age, make these calls, consult various Web sites, post messages on the boards that share hints and resources. Just don't give up!