6 Smart Moves if You Get Laid Off Before You Were Planning to Retire by Ingrid Case The coronavirus pandemic has thrown many older workers’ plans into disarray, as they lose their jobs before they’d planned to retire. April saw the highest monthly job loss on record: 20.5 million jobs. Overall unemployment jumped to 14.7%, the highest since the Great Depression. For people age 55 and older, unemployment surged from 3.3% in March to 13.