Do Older Employees Add Value to the Workplace?

There are many schools of thought on employing older workers.

An obvious one is: “Do they have what it takes to succeed in today’s fast-paced business world when there is a large pool of talented younger workers available?”

In answer to this, job experts say older workers bring many benefits to a position - and not just their many years of experience and skills.

Recent research has shown older workers perform well in leadership roles and detail-oriented tasks.

They also have great organisational ability, listening, writing and problem solving skills - even in the more cutting-edge fields like computer science.

In fact, a recent study from North Carolina State University found older computer programmers were more knowledgeable than many of their younger colleagues.

They also answered questions better and were more adept at certain newer systems.

Older workers, whether they realise it or not, can also provide valuable knowledge and experience as teachers and mentors.

In fact, rather than ‘reinventing the wheel’, many organisations would do well to bring on people with experience who can share what has been tried in the past and how it can be improved.

Of course, a strong and underlying culture of age discrimination does still exist among some HR and employment professionals.

However, these days, even the most cynical of employers are giving higher marks to older applicants for their loyalty, reliability, experience, and strong networks of contacts.

According to a 2010 Pew Research centre survey, nearly six out of 10 of those surveyed, cited work ethic as one of the big differences between younger and older workers.

And when asked who had the better work ethic, about three-quarters of respondents said older people did.

It is also a little-known fact that the take-up of older workers in the workforce is actually on the increase.

This is demonstrated by recent US studies, which show the percentage of people 65 and older in the workforce has increased from 12.1 per cent in 1990 to 16.1 per cent in 2010.

New analysis of US Census data projects a 67 per cent increase in the 65-and-older population between 2015 and 2040, when one in five Americans will be 65 or older.

Also, the US Urban Institute predicts that workers 50 years and older will comprise 35 per cent of the workforce by 2019.

The reasons for this increase are simple.

As the economy grows and more and more jobs are created between now and 2030 - there will not be enough younger workers to fill the need as millions of ‘baby boomers’ leave the workforce.

Workplace experts therefore predict there will be a future shortage of trained workers for key jobs in professions ranging from education to engineering and healthcare.

Older workers will need not only to stay on the job - but also have core training to stay relevant.

Employers therefore need to look to the future and identify exactly which skills need to be expanded upon - so that older workers can stay on the job productively.

This training disconnect of course, already exists - with many 50-plus workers already seeing the need to keep up their skills - but often not knowing which direction to take.

Finally, another advantage of employing an older worker is they are generally not besotted with climbing the corporate ladder like many younger workers.

They know exactly what they want to do and are focused on getting the work done.