About the ageing workforce
Over the next four decades in Australia, the number of people aged over 65 will almost double. Within just seven years, about 85 percent of labour market growth will come from people over the age of 45.
Our ageing population is a reality.
Economic wellbeing, for both governments and individual businesses, depends on keeping older workers employed. Companies that fail to address the ageing workforce issue risk future staff and skill shortages, and any competitive edge they now enjoy.
While it is illegal to discriminate against a person on the basis of age, younger workers have traditionally been the winners in most company recruitment drives.
Employers (many of them mature-aged themselves) have tended to be unconcerned about losing the skills, knowledge and experience of older workers.
However attitudes are changing as more companies recognise that in the future there will be fewer young people to employ relative to older people. The current skills shortage reported in Queensland is not a blip in labour supply. It reflects growing competition for the available workforce. Businesses that target recruitment to the prime age group (26 to 40 years) will limit their potential pool to just 20 percent of the working age population.
There are many benefits associated with recruiting older workers.
Studies have shown that people over 45 stay longer in their jobs, contribute to the long - term performance of a company, have low levels of absenteeism and are flexible in their working hours and conditions. Age diversity in an organisation is also widely regarded as a sound business strategy.
Employing and retaining older workers is not just inevitable. Rethinking attitudes that adapt your business to Australia’s ageing workforce can translate into significant savings in recruitment, training and productivity.
An 'older' person is generally regarded as someone aged 45 years or over.
Last updated 22 July 2008