Don't Discard your Mature Age Workers!

      Having previously written on "A tripartite approach to an aging demographic", it raises the question of what we as a society are going to do with our ever maturing workforce - and we are talking here about people over the age of 45!  It also introduces some challenges as well as opportunities for businesses. (To see a recent Fortune magazine article on how some companies are holding on to their baby boomers, please click here.)

        The 2011 Australian Federal Budget had quite a focus on increasing workforce participation.  Whilst most of the Federal Budget was focused on younger workers including apprentices, there were some changes in relation to enhancing what is known as the Work Bonus and the introduction of further programs for mature age skill development.  And the need for this change of approach will become critical - for instance, currently about 170,000 new workers in the 15-64 age band are added to the workforce each year - BUT in the entire decade from 2020 to 2030, only 125,000 workers will be added.  

        The government defines a mature worker as someone over the age  of 45 - which is very young given our longer life expectancies  (note though that most of their incentive programs apply to people over the age of 50).    There had been previously announced pension changes to increase eligibility for the age pension from 2017 from age 65 to age 67.  The  Government also recognizes there is a societal and economic case for increasing mature age participation particularly with changing demographics and forecast economic growth.

    

        Other Federal Government initiatives in relation to mature workers?

        The Government updated the Intergenerational Report in February 2010 recognizing the demographic dynamics for the next 40 years.  It introduced the  Productive Aging Package in February 2010 which included a number of initiatives to invest in job training for more mature workers and to provide more support for mentoring arrangements. It also had the  Consultative Forum on Mature Age Participation commence in 2010 with representatives of a number of organizations including the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group, the ACTU and a number of Seniors organisations.  The objective of this group is to improve perceptions of older workers and support the business case for retaining older workers.

        The overall aim of the government is to increase participation rates for the 50-69 age group from 62% to 67% of the workforce by 2050 thus increasing GDP - and reducing reliance on the age pension.  The underlying reason for this is that whereas in 1970 there were 7.5 (taxpaying) workers in Australia for every person over 65, this is predicted to drop to 2.7 by 2050.

        The Government has also published a document called “Investing in Experience” which particularly targets the issues around older workers including various strategies and incentives available for employers and employees alike.  Some of these are detailed below.

        My experience as an Executive Coach dealing with mature workers?

        As a Certified Retirement Coach, I see more mature workers undertaking transition particularly in circumstances of retrenchment - and it is the hardest transition I coach and one where often many people actually wish to continue working.  I encourage them to essentially use their experience PLUS reinvent and retrain to continue to be relevant.  This is particularly around the use of technology including social media.

        In fact, I had a 70 year old worker who I assisted earlier this year to obtain 2 new role offers – much of which was from reframing his experience in a resume and assisting him to get up to speed with things like LinkedIn.  To his credit, this worker had done much training and education from the age of 50 onwards to stay relevant.

        Mature workers enhance their own employment opportunities

        Both pre and post GFC, it should be said that many more mature workers may not be able to financially afford retirement particularly given their life expectancy.   In fact, many mature age workers may have nearly as long to live as they have already been working.  They may also not be able to psychologically afford retirement as they deal with the challenges of loss of identity, purpose, social contact and income that a job brings.  

.       Mature workers can use technology if shown how and if they have a "lifelong learning" approach - and this is powerful if combined with their offline experience and relationships.  I do not consider mature workers can rely just on their experience and “respect” for elders - this now needs to be earned on an ongoing basis.   

        There is a relatively low cost of training now – particularly web based with new delivery mechanisms.  At the same time, all generations need to respect and learn from the different generations – as well as be a mentors/reverse mentors etc .   

   

        Furthermore, more mature workers should also be prepared to explore new ways of working – contracting, part-time, job sharing, flexible - not just the traditional permanent full time job.

        What can employers do to deal with more mature workers?

                        

        Firstly, recognise the business case for employing older workers and that the statistics don’t actually support the negative perceptions of older workers. The over 55 age group has been shown to be the most productive working on average for 7 out of every 8 hours of the normal day.  The costs of recruitment, turnover and training are huge – and the statistics also show that younger workers are 5 times as likely to change roles as older workers.  Also, some of fastest growing groups in adapting to technology are older age groups  and therefore it is important that we don’t make assumptions about older workers.


      Employers should also  consider a variety of strategies for more mature workers such as : 

·        Tailored training and retraining of workers 

·        Accessing a range of potential Government incentives

·        More flexible working conditions

·        Coaching and mentoring – both ways

·        Maternity leave equivalent/gap years/flexible leave to accommodate travel requirements, aging parents and grandchildren - the different life events that occur at a more mature age .

      

        Government Incentives available  

        There are a range of incentives and grants available for mature workers and these are detailed at the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations website.  These include:

·       Investing in Experience - checklists, toolkits, case studies, financial help 

·       Experience+ training -  to provide mentoring and supervisory services

·       Skills Assessment for Mature Workers - recognising prior skills and experience and provides both assessment and training

·      Employee Assistance Fund to provide financial assistance to purchase a range of work related modifications and services for employees with a health condition, injury or disability

·        Indigenous Wage Subsidies

Conclusion  

        The Federal Government has commenced a change of the policy settings to accommodate an aging workforce in Australia between now and 2050.  It is going to up to employees over 45/50 and their current or prospective employers to have a change of attitude and approach to ensure a relevant, well trained  and motivated workforce that will be needed by business and society alike.