“80 is the new 60” – ageing as a workplace opportunity
At 8am on any given Friday morning, in summer, a group of energetic boogie boarders takes to the sea at Strand Beach. They are all women, and mostly over 50.?Such is their verve for life that their story made it to the Wall Street Journal in 2019, in an article entitled No longer any sell-by date for women over 50. The group now boasts a membership of more than 80 women – all skilled, intelligent, capable, physically active – and yes, older.
In recent months, much has been written about the impact of Covid-19 on the global skills shortage. Millions have left their jobs in “The Great Resignation” as they rethink where, how and why they work.?As economies re-open, there simply aren’t enough skilled people to fill vacancies.
But a key segment of the workforce is being overlooked. Older people provide an untapped supply of labour – a pool that will grow as birth and death rates continue to drop and the global population ages.?By 2050, people over 60 will comprise more than 30% of the population of 62 countries in the world.
Older people both need, and want, to be active participants in the economy. ?
Life spans are getting longer due to improved medical care, sanitation and nutrition. Children born this century could expect to live to 100.?Many people won’t be able to afford to stop working when they reach retirement age.?Nor should they have to. With health spans also getting longer, a 65 year old today can still be physically and mentally productive.?
Older people have been excluded to date.
The prevailing mindset around ageing is a negative one. ?Many countries, burdened by the healthcare, pension and social protection needs of their increasingly elderly populations, are taking action to increase the retirement age or hike the pension contributions of workers. In the workplace and the job market, ageism still seems common. Stereotypes of older workers being more costly, less flexible and technologically averse continue to skew hiring decisions in favour of younger workers.
What’s received little focus is the positive contribution an ageing population can make. But this is changing.
There’s emerging recognition for the concept of a multi-generation workplace, where different generational identities and perspectives are harnessed to good effect. Commentators, in publications like Harvard Business Review, are re-framing the “greying” issue, not as a problem, but as an opportunity in the workplace.?They’re acknowledging that older workers can help plug the skills gap, and bring value in other ways too:
Having coined the phrase “The Great Resignation”, Anthony Klotz, an organizational psychologist and professor at Texas A&M University, now talks of “The Great Reset”.?How will we reset the role of older workers in the workplace of the future??It might mean redefining retirement - to be less about freedom from work and more about freedom to work, as long as you need to and wish to.?Or, with flexibility now a valued currency in the workplace, it might allow people to scale down involvement during years of heavy-parenting responsibilities, and scale up again in later years.?
Organisations that build older workers into their human capital strategies will secure themselves new assets into the future – even if they are a little grey around the temples.?
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CNBC Make it. (2022, 14 January). Professor who predicted ‘The Great Resignation’ shares the 3 trends that will dominate work in 2022.
BusinessTech. (2022, 18 January). Shortage of skilled workers a major risk in South Africa. ?
Harvard Business Review. (2022, 8 March). Work in the Era of No Retirement.?
Harvard Business Review Ideacast. (2022, 8 March). You’re Overlooking a Source of Diversity: Age.?
United Nations. (no date). Global issues:?Ageing.?
CNBC. (2022, 20 March). How older workers can push back against the reality of ageism.??
Managing Director at Blast BCW
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