Older workers cracking the job market

People aged 63 and over are the fastest growing group in the workforce, according to a new survey, numbering about half a million. Yesterday, the federal government announced another program to help older workers get their foot back in the door.

Above: Minister for Employment Participation, Kate Ellis.

By Stephen Easton

Despite the prevalence of discrimination against older job seekers, people aged 63 and over are the fastest growing group in Australia’s workforce, according to an employment forecast commissioned by the My Career jobs website.

According to Michael Emerson, managing director of Economic and Market Development Advisors (EMDA), which produced the survey, what he calls ‘twilighters’ now make up 4.6 per cent of the Australian workforce.

The workforce segment, made up of people older than baby boomers, doubled in the last 15 years and has been growing faster than any other age group, according to Mr Emerson, which is “a reflection of Australia’s ageing population”.

Fairfax Media’s popular employment website expects the growth to continue as people aged over 63 look to top up their superannuation and keep busy for decades after retirement age.

Above: National Seniors CEO, Michael O’Neill.

Chief executive of National Seniors, Michael O’Neill, said that the impressive-sounding growth in the number of workers aged over 63 – from around 250,000 to half a million in 15 years – had come from a low base, and that Australia continued to lag behind similar countries like New Zealand in workforce participation rates for the larger group of workers aged over 55.

“Whatever improvement there may have been, the harsh reality at the moment is if you become unemployed at age 55, you will be out of work for 72 weeks on average,” Mr O’Neill said. 

“Whereas a person in their twenties, when they become unemployed, they stay out of work for 22 weeks on average. So just that contrast says to me immediately that there’s some factor here that’s different.

“There is still a lot of research data around, from people who go for interviews and they make the assessments themselves. They often say ‘I felt in the interview that I was discriminated against; I could feel those age barriers being there’. We need to pay as much regard to that as to what employment agencies are saying.”

Yesterday, the federal government announced a new program that could contribute further to growth in the older workforce, by providing IT training, peer support and skill reviews to older job seekers, as well as $500 payments to cover costs associated with finding work, like computer equipment and internet bills.

The new program, which begin in January 2013, is part of a range of federal government programs to support mature age job seekers, including $1,000 bonus payments for employers and the Corporate Champions program, which recognises employers “who make a public commitment to move toward better practice in employing mature age people”.

Echoing Mr O’Neill’s comments, Minister for Employment Participation, Kate Ellis, said in a statement that it was much harder for older workers to “get their foot back in the door” than other job seekers.

Although she quoted a slightly longer average time spent searching the job ads – 73 weeks for people over 55 compared with 32 weeks for “other job seekers” – her conclusion was one that National Seniors would agree with.

“We cannot afford for the skills and experience of older Australians not to be a part of our future workforce,” Ms Ellis said.

Mr O’Neill said that any one of the programs would have limited effect in isolation, but supported the government’s approach of using several measures to encourage participation, challenge popular misconceptions about older workers and root out age discrimination in existing legislation.

“What is relevant, I think, is the importance of people making sure that their skills remain as current as they need to be; keeping themselves up to speed,” he said.

“I think individuals have a responsibility as well. If you’re in the workforce, it’s important that you do make the most of training opportunities, and that employers treat everyone in the workforce the same with regard to training.”

He also pointed out that various studies have found that despite the reluctance of many employers to take on older workers, their strengths outweighed their weaknesses.

“There are lots of human resources studies that show older workers are more dedicated, take greater ownership of tasks, they’re more reliable, and they take fewer ‘sickies’. They bring the knowledge of a lifetime, and that upside is sometimes not appreciated as much as it should be.”

Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, said many mature age people left the labour force because they felt their skills and experience were no longer valued, leading to social isolation and its associated negative impact on health and wellbeing.

Age discrimination seems to be relatively rare in aged care, where organisations employ so many older workers that the prosect of a large number of workers retiring in the next decade has the potential to increase the already sector’s already soaring demand for new staff.

Tags: age-discrimination, ageism, federal-government, older-workers,

6 thoughts on “Older workers cracking the job market

  1. I own the only National job board that links older jobseekers with only age-friendly employers – http://www.olderworkers.com.au We have 17,500 registered jobseekers and over 1300 registered employers and our employers are growing daily so the message is getting out there to employers. It is critical that the government continue to promote the benefits of older workers. While we are not sure that the Jobs Bonus of $1,000 will see a big uptake, it is better than nothing and continues to put the issue of the wasted skills and resources of older workers.
    The benefits of older workers are well documented in the copious amounts of research done both in Australia and overseas, and along with ongoing promotion by the government and the Jobs Bonus we might start to see things turn around for older jobseekers.
    In a recent survey of our jobseekers more than 40% of them were looking for full time work, and more than 30% of them said they had no intentions of retiring.
    Companies that don’t have recruitment strategies that include older workers are automatically excluding a very large pool of talented, loyal and reliable applicants.

  2. If we continue to push the same so-called benefits of employing older people (reliable, dedicated, fewer sickies), then that is itself discriminatory. Older workers need to be recognised for their skills not that they turn up to work every day (so patronising). And on the need to up-skill or continuous learning… great, but my study debt is benefiting the sector. Who is going to support my commitment to the sector? The over 50s are not a homogenous group so let’s stop this nonsense of branding everyone as though they lack the ability to upskill. Rather let’s look at the factors impeding their upskilling or inability to transfer their skills and knowledge.

  3. I don’t think anyone is suggesting they are a homogenous group, but unless you are over the age of 50 and looking for work you simply don’t know how it feels to be excluded and discriminated against. I am one of them. I agree that the more the government does to push the skills and promote older workers the better. I don’t understand what you are trying to say in this matter. Nobody is saying they don’t have the ability to upskill either, of course they do, that is one of our benefits. There is nothing discriminatory about saying that older workers are reliable, dedicated and have fewer sickies; that is what all the research says.

  4. Caroline, you CLEARLY have never looked for work as an older job seeker,been to a job interview as an older job seeker,been to a recruitment agency as an older job seekers or tried to get a job as a migrant older job seeker. You can talk all you like about upskilling, skills and knowledge, but if Employers (who are the most important factor here)aren’t interested in employing older workers then upskilling, skills tranfers etc will make zero difference.

    Whilst I respect your right to have an opinion, it sounds like a politicians one to me??I’d be very suprised if you are even over 40years of age?

  5. I am a professional with 30 years corporate experience working in large complex global organisations. At the age of 50 I was made redundant after the business was sold overseas and at that time I never once considered age would have been an issue and was very confident I would find work quickly based on my experience, achievements and value-add I would bring to an organisation. For over two years I have been trying to find work only to be told I am over qualified, the hiring manager has specific requirements and is fearful of employing someone with more experience than themselves, I would get board, etc. etc. I have registered with many recruitment agencies, making continuous follow-up calls, applying for positions where my skills meet the job criteria and trying to remain positive. I participate in the governments job network program and have questioned on many occasions why I am not put forward for any government jobs and in particular government contract jobs who use recruitment agencies to fill these positions. I am never given any explanation. Why? The Minister for Employment can change all this for me by simply finding out what gov contract jobs are available that match my skills and practice what they preach instead of just talking.

  6. I am a 50+ female who has 12 years Public Administration experience. In addition I have 23 years project and administrative experience in various sectors. During my career I also proudly raised 2 children and committed to study, to further develop my skills. I completed an under graduate degree (fully paid for) and Masters (in debt). I have worked part-time in small business since completion of my second degree, which has given me the flexibility to meet family commitments and develop skills in a specific sector. I now would like to work full-time, whether contract or permanent in a large organisation to utilise my extensive skills, personal attributes and save for retirement.

    Earlier this year I began applying for positions through recruitment agencies where my skills meet job criteria. Although I have been job seeking for a ‘short period’ of time compared to others, I have come to the conclusion that transferable skills and aptitude do not matter, job ads are written in a manner that precludes individuals from meeting all the criteria (particularly in Government project and administration work) and feedback is non existent.

    It is difficult to remain positive. I believe that recruitment agencies and employers are narrow minded in their approach to employment. I understand that I am seeking an opportunity in an increasingly competitive market however, as a mature age job seeker who has extensive work and academic experience, it is frustrating that the needs of mature age job seekers are not fully addressed by recruitment agencies, employers and Government.

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