Myth busters
You can't teach an 'old dog' new tricks
Training older people close to retirement age provides limited return on training investment
There is a strong link between ageing and mental decline
Older people don't have the same motivation and productivity of younger workers
Older people don't have the same commitment to a company as a younger person carving a career path
Older workers have higher accident rates and take off more time off work for health - related reasons
Performance suffers with age
Most older people can't cope with new technology
Older Australians represent the fastest-growing, most affluent segment of the consumer market - and older customers may prefer to deal with people who are similar to them and understand their needs.
"The myth of ageism - there are vital older people and worn out younger people."
Some employers worry that older workers are less willing to change, more difficult to train, and take more time off for health reasons than younger workers. However research in Australia and overseas reveals that this isn't the case.
You can't teach an 'old dog' new tricks
Research has found that the skills and experience of many older workers are particularly appropriate to the growing number of knowledge and service - based industry positions. These positions tend to favour people with the ability to capitalise on broader life and work experience.
Studies of older people in the workforce have also found that they are flexible in their working hours and conditions, and have good coping skills when faced with change.
Training older people close to retirement age provides limited return on training investment
Information from the National Centre for Vocational Education and Research shows that qualifications acquired later in life have as good, and in some cases better, pay - off than qualifications obtained at a younger age.
The turnover rates among older workers are not necessarily greater than those of younger people who may change jobs frequently as part of their career progression. However with the pace of technological and organisational changes, a skilled person will be in demand what ever their age.
There is a strong link between ageing and mental decline
Studies show that the rate of mental decline commonly associated with ageing is greatly exaggerated.
Older people don't have the same motivation and productivity of younger workers
Studies have dispelled adverse perceptions and concerns about the productivity, adaptability and motivation of older workers because they have found that older workers have the advantage of greater experience and maturity, commitment to their work and a highly developed work ethic .
Older people don't have the same commitment to a company as a younger person carving a career path
In fact, people over the age of 45 tend to stay with an employer 2.4 times as long as younger employees. Older people can bring reliability and loyalty to an organisation.
Older workers have higher accident rates and take off more time off work for health - related reasons
In other countries it has been shown that older workers suffer a higher incidence of stress and strain-related injuries. Those who are injured at work tend to suffer more severe injuries that require longer recovery time.
However studies have found that in most occupations, mature workers have a lower accident rate and a lower absenteeism rate.
Performance suffers with age
Swinburne University conducted studies that showed that older workers deliver high quality performance, and this encourages higher standards in younger workers.
Compared with previous generations, mature-aged workers today have far greater capacity to work beyond retirement age because they are healthier and the nature of most work is less physically demanding.
Most older people can't cope with new technology
Older people are the fastest growing group of internet users; however they need to learn new technology-based skills at their own pace.
Last update June 9, 2006