Why Hire Older Workers?
Because Hiring Mature Workers Makes Business Sense…
The workforce of the future comes from the workforce of the past! If you thought there was a talent scarcity before the Global Financial Crisis...you ain't seen nothing yet! The experienced mature workforce is fastest growing sector of the labour market.
Position your organisation now to attract and retain experienced older workers. Why? Because older workers deliver an average net benefit of $1,956 per year to their employer compared to the rest of the workforce - a result of increased retention, lower rates of absenteeism, decreased costs of recruitment and greater investment returns on training. (Business, Work and Ageing)
The ageing of the workforce is unprecedented. The result?
Over 85% of labour market growth this decade will come from older workers - candidates aged 45+.
For every 1 new labour market entrant, there are 7 available over the age of 45.
Employees aged 45+ are also likely to stay with an organisation 2.4 x longer on average than those under 45's.
The benefits of hiring older workers are many:
- Bring more experienced ‘mentors’ into your business.
- Find people who have the will and the skill to work with you.
- Reap cost savings due to improved retention, decreased absenteeism and lower attrition rates.
- Mirror your customer base more effectively.
- Enjoy the benefits of a diverse, flexible workforce.
- Inject experience, knowledge and wisdom into your organisation.
- Enhance workforce age diversity.
- Increase overall business productivity.
Want to know more about the benefits of hiring older workers?
Want to know more about the benefits of hiring older workers? Contact Adage today.
Ageing in the workplace
Does your organisation have a diversity policy recognising older workers?
Gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability are all areas usually covered off in organisational diversity policies. In most instances these issues have directly been addressed due to the emergence of a risk management issue due to legislative requirements.
While the Age Discrimination Act has been in existence since 2004, Australia's first Age Discrimination Commissioner was only appointed in August 2011. With an ageing population and an increase in age based discrimination complaints, age diversity should be at the top of every organisations diversity agenda in 2012.
Adage can help address any enquiries you may have with regards to an ageing workforce, workforce planning, retention and recruitment of older workers through our own expertise and network of business partners.
For further information relating to age diversity please contact Heidi@adage.com.au
$1000 Jobs Bonus Scheme for Older Workers
The Australian Government has announced new incentives and support for mature age job seekers and their employers.
A Jobs Bonus of $1000 will be available to employers who recruit an eligible mature age job seeker, aged 50 years or over.
Eligibility and guidelines are being finalised. The guidelines will require that employers offer a genuine, ongoing employment opportunity to the job seeker, meeting the necessary standards for pay and conditions. The Jobs Bonus will be paid after the job seeker has been employed for 13 weeks.
The Jobs Bonus will be available from 1 July 2012. More information available here
Older workers in the news
Over the hill and far away? Not on your nellie.
Written by Nareen Young, CEO, Diversity Council Australia.
A slew of recent research has identified that age discrimination is a real problem in Australian workplaces. The latest was the Financial Services Council that found over a third of workers aged 50 and over who were earning about the average wage reported having experienced age-related discrimination.
So why is age discrimination such a persistent problem? Clearly it is a real negative when it comes to workforce participation and productivity, especially as our population ages.
An interesting report just put out by the World Economic Forum in Davos found economies with a high proportion of healthy, older workers do better. The report says: “…with people living longer than ever before … society has an opportunity to reap a ‘longevity dividend’, in which older people continue to make substantial contributions for unprecedentedly long periods.” Moreover, it finds little difference between the productivity of older and younger employees.
Inaccurate stereotypes about older workers being inflexible or hard to train are just a few examples that need to be addressed in order to remove barriers to workforce participation.
Read full article originally report in HC Online here
Innovation in the labour market - where is your next worker?
Written by Heidi Holmes, Managing Director, Adage
Over the past decade we’ve experienced both growth and slowing in our economy, which has obviously influenced demand for labour at different periods of time. There is no doubt that at the beginning of 2012, there is increasing uncertainty in the market place, driven largely by the Euro crisis and the media’s continued focus on areas of doom and gloom. A decline in unemployment reported last week caught everyone off guard.
Is this pessimistic outlook causing us to miss opportunities and celebrate success?
To read more on the mature workforce of the future visit the Adage Blog