Solution to Age-Old Problem is to make 'Oldies' Work Longer

Are you a burden to younger workers? But are you too old to be hired? Will it go round in circles?

The Australian reported on Sunday, 27 Aug 2023, that there is a growing tax burden on young Australians as the country’s population ages.? So business leaders, economists and seniors groups are urging Anthony Albanese to encourage older Australian to stay in the workforce longer to ease the burden.

Apparently our rapidly ageing population would account for 40% of the surge in government spending over the coming decades. And commitments on aged and health care, the NDIS, defence and interest payments on the national debt will fall on the next generation of workers. Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry brands it an ‘intergenerational tragedy.”

The solution, according to the report, is to encourage older Australians to stay in the workforce longer.? And the report also said that the challenge was to lure older Australians back into the workforce.? In fact Professor Bob Breunig, director of the ANU’s Tax and Transfer Policy Institute also said, “The thing that gets people to work longer is to not give them pension income until a later age.”

However, the latest ‘Employing and Retaining Older Workers’ survey the Australian HR Institute (AHRI) found:

One in six organisations will not consider hiring people aged?65

(If you want me to send you the 2023 report let me know in the comments.)

Ok, so oldies need to get back to work to lessen the tax burden on younger workers but ageism is rife in certain industries.?

Are those over 50 or 60 now stuck between a rock and a hard place with the government aiming for us to retire later and later with ageism still a thing in a number of workplaces?

I did a bit of digging and found a number of interesting articles and excellent quotes about ageism in the workplace and am sharing as food for thought and discussion.?

Your input, feedback and suggested solutions or debate are very welcome.

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Ageism is still a thing

Human Resources Director (HRD) magazine reported that research of Australia’s older workers found that experiences of age discrimination in the workplace almost doubled in the five years leading up to 2021.

According to the Australian Seniors Series: Ageing in the Workforce 2021 report, one in five workers (20.7%) aged over 50 encountered age discrimination in the workplace – twice as many compared to 2016 (9.6%).

Just over 40% said they have felt patronised in the workplace because of their age. But according to the report in The Australian those over 50 and 60 are being encouraged to continue working till way over 65 even though there is the definition of ‘old age’ as 65 years.

However, despite the prevalence of this ageism, more than three quarters of Australians aged over 50 want to keep working indefinitely and almost 90% of retirees plan to re-enter the workforce.

In 2023, in an interview with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, The Hon Dr Kay Patterson AO, Australia’s Age Discrimination Commissioner shared her thoughts on mature age employment.

“Currently there are 5?generations at work. They bring a range of skills, experiences and expectations about workplaces and about working with others.

Smart employers are already providing workplace cultures which are attractive to employees of all ages, including rapidly increasing numbers of workers aged 55?and?over.

Employers who lead by example and embrace age diversity will reap the rewards in terms of productivity, innovation, problem solving and workforce stability.

The?Employing and Retaining Older Workers survey , provided insights into employers’ perceptions about older workers.

The report found prevailing age discrimination against older workers by employers contradicts the real-life experience of working with them.

Many employers surveyed, report no difference between older and younger workers in terms of job performance, concentration, ability to adapt to change, energy levels and creativity.

Advantages of older workers were found to be coping with stress, attendance, reliability, awareness, commitment and loyalty.

Advantages of younger workers include their physical capability, ambition and proficiency in using technology.”

Diversity with the workplace, including age diversity, is reflective of modern Australia and good for business.

The Hon Dr Kay Patterson continued, “According to the?Australian Institute of Health and Welfare , older people are most commonly employed in the industries of health care and social assistance, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and education and training.

These roles are most likely to be as professionals, managers or clerical and administrative workers.

Despite the labour climate being tight, ageist perceptions and employment practices prevail and older Australians continue to face cumulative barriers to gaining employment.

Workplace age discrimination can occur at the point of recruitment, in relation to opportunities for training, development, and promotion and access to flexible work practices.

In the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2016?Willing to Work report , 27% of people over the age of 50 reported experiencing age discrimination at work.

One third reported this occurred when applying for a job. A third of those who had experienced age discrimination gave up looking for work.

The latest Employing and Retaining Older Workers survey with the Australian HR Institute also found one in six organisations will not consider hiring people aged?65.

Eighteen?per?cent of those surveyed still have an older age above which they will not recruit. While this attitude is steadily declining, down from 52% in 2014, it is still too high.

Prevailing ageist stereotypes and myths about older workers are key contributors to employers’ reluctance to hire older workers.

This includes stereotypes about older people having declining skills, agency, and vitality; and lacking in competence in many areas such as technology and professionally.

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Employers need to review the way they recruit

Simple strategies employers can apply to their recruitment practices to attract applicants of all ages include:

• Ensuring the content of the job ad attracts all ages
• Ensuring the job location attracts full range of age groups
• Excluding date of birth from application forms
• Offering flexible work arrangements
• Training staff with recruitment responsibilities to ensure all recruitment practices are free of age bias.

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Which industries have the highest biases against workers over 50?

I researched a little further afield and found that in America, according to research by the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) technology related fields including computer programming and engineering have the highest biases experienced by workers over the age of 50.?

Jobs requiring physical labour such as construction, manufacturing and shipping as there is the assumption that older workers are not physically capable of performing the roles effectively.?

Customer service roles also face age discrimination as younger customer service professionals supposedly possess better communication skills or appear more relatable to customers.

And the research also found media industries including music, television, film, radio and advertising tend to prefer younger talent when casting or hiring employees.

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What are mature-age workers doing about ageism?

Interestingly, back in Australia, mature-age workers are doing something about ageism. Tai Rotem, social research expert and consulting partner at Mymavins, said, “One in four seniors admit to trying to make themselves look younger in the workplace or when they're applying for jobs. That includes things from dying their hair, wearing the latest fashion, getting the latest haircut and makeup styles.”

Older workers are also becoming increasingly proactive at upskilling to keep up with advancing industry trends, with many branching out into new career paths.

“We found that close to three in five seniors plan to or already have reskilled or sought further training to improve their prospects since turning 50,” Rotem said. “What's probably most interesting about that is as many as half of those people who are looking to reskill have done that in new areas, so they're really expanding their horizons and moving beyond past roles.”

Humphrey Armstrong, an organisational psychologist at Lifelong Learning, said much of the mature-age employment problem stems back to commonly held misconceptions, like older employees costing more, being more difficult to train, or being resistant to change.

He also said that emotional intelligence, or emotional capabilities increase with age well into a person’s 70s. ?

Twice as many start-ups are initiated by over 50’s than people in their twenties. There is a huge amount of value in the learned knowledge, intuition and life experience of an older worker. But for a workforce to be inclusive of all ages, ageism needs to be more widely talked about, Armstrong said.

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Diversity must be embraced by employers

Gender diversity is often discussed but age diversity is often ignored in the workplace. Diversity is an incredible advantage in organisational life, as studies have shown it increases profitability, creativity, enhances governance, and it also enables better problem solving.

Emotional intelligence can increase with age so older people are, I believe, very valuable and very skilled at handling tricky interpersonal problems and generally they are better able to cope with ambiguity.

In conclusion, people are experiencing ageism in the workplace, there are employers reluctant to hire older workers, the government want older Australians to ease the tax burden on younger Australians by getting back to work, and some are advocating to delay when people can access their pension to lure older workers back into the workforce. ?

It continues to go round in circles.? Your thoughts?

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#ageism #diversity #inclusion #matureageworkers #careercoach ?

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