Mature Workers: 2. Myths and facts around older workers
Discover how stereotypes and age discrimination create employment barriers for older workers and harm Australia's economic participation and workforce
Summary
Negative stereotypes and assumptions of a ‘use by date’ are significant barriers that older Australians face when they look for meaningful work.
Mature Workers:
2. Myths and facts around older workers
Negative stereotypes and assumptions of a ‘use by date' are significant barriers that older Australians face when they look for meaningful work.
With Australia's workforce ageing at a rapid rate and some industries facing skills shortages, buying into these stereotypes will increasingly come at a heavy cost to employers.
That's why it's so important to separate the myths from the facts.
Myth 1: Mature age workers will cost the business more for their experience
Myth 3: There is no long term benefit to training and developing mature age workers
Myth 4: Younger workers are better performers than mature age workers
Myth 5: Mature age workers won't be able to adapt to changes and new technology
MYTH 1: Mature age workers will cost the business more for their experience.
FACT: Mature age employees can save costs to employers through increased rates of retention.
Workers aged over 55 are five times less likely to change jobs compared with workers aged 20-24, reducing ongoing recruitment and training costs. [1]
Mature workers deliver an average net benefit of $1,956 per year to their employer compared to the rest of the workforce - a result of increased retention, lower rates of absenteeism, decreased costs of recruitment and greater investment returns on training. [2]
FACT: Retention of mature age workers can help maintain corporate memory and save employers the cost of ‘re-inventing the wheel'. [3]
FACT: There is a strategic business advantage of having employees who reflect the diversity of the customer base as the Australian population ages. [4]
MYTH 2: Mature age workers may be prone to health problems.
FACT: Australians are living longer and are healthier.
ABS reports show that the current life expectancy is 78 years for men and 83 years for women – a two and three year increase respectively since 1994. [5]
A 2005 ABS survey found the proportion of Australians aged 55-64 reporting their health as ‘good', ‘very good' or ‘excellent' was 75.5% – an increase of four per cent since 1995. [6]
FACT: Mature age workers are less likely to take sick leave and experience work related injuries.
A 2006 ABS survey found that mature workers were the least likely group to take days off due to their own illness or as a carer. In the two week period prior to the survey nearly half the number of mature workers had days off compared to workers aged 25-34. [7]
ABS data indicates that mature age workers are less likely to experience work-related injuries compared to younger workers. [8]
MYTH 3: There is no long term benefit to training and developing mature age workers.
FACT: Australia's ageing population means business will need to invest in mature age employees.
- Based on current trends the working age population will grow by just 125,000 for the entire decade from 2020 to 2029 – less than a tenth of current pace.
Research of OECD countries shows that those countries that provide a higher level of training to older workers have workers leaving the labour market at an older age. [9]
MYTH 4: Younger workers are better performers than mature age workers.
FACT: Experience is a better indicator of productivity than age.
A study of OECD nations concluded that verbal skills, communication and intelligence remain unchanged as a person ages. [10]
MYTH 5: Mature age workers won't be able to adapt to changes and new technology.
FACT: Older people are the fastest growing users of technology.
ABS data shows that Australians aged 55-64 are the fastest growing users of information technology. [11]
FACT: Older people can be trained to use new technologies.
International studies indicate that appropriate training provided in a supportive environment can greatly assist older workers to learn new technology systems. [12]
A survey of employers showed they were more likely to recruit someone with direct experience in the industry but with limited computing skills compared to a person who is good with computers but has no industry experience. [13]
[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006) Labour Mobility Survey, Cat. No. 6209.0. [2] Business, Work and Ageing (2000) Profiting from Maturity: The Social and Economic Costs of Mature Age Unemployment. [3] Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care (2001) Population Ageing in the Australian Economy, Access Economics. [4] ibid [5] Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2006) Measures of Australia's Progress, Cat. No. 1370.0. [6] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006) National Health Survey: Summary of Results, 2004-05 Cat. No. 4364.0. [7] ibid [8] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006) Work-Related Injuries, Australia, Cat. No. 6324.0. [9] Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2006) Live Longer Work Longer, OECD Publishing, http://213.253.134.43/oecd/pdfs/browseit/8105111E.PDF , accessed 27 August 2007. [10] Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2006) Live Longer Work Longer, OECD Publishing, http://213.253.134.43/oecd/pdfs/browseit/8105111E.PDF , accessed 27 August 2007. [11] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2005) Year Book Australia, Cat. No. 1301.0. [12] Research and Policy Committee of Committee for Economic Development (1999) New Opportunities for Older Workers [13] Bittman, M., Flick, M., & Rice, J. (2001) The recruitment of older Australian workers – A survey of employers in high growth industry, Social Policy Research Centre, University of NSW.