Posts Tagged “grey army”

Surprise fall in unemployment rate

Apr 16, 2015

Number of people without jobs at 6.1 per cent, falling for the second month in a row.

The pressure eases on Centrelink … for now. *Photo: AAP*

The rate of unemployment fell to 6.1 per cent in March, confounding economists’ expectations that it would remain at 6.2 per cent.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the 0.1 percentage point drop just a day after the International Monetary Fund predicted unemployment to stay well above 6 per cent until 2016.

• Jobless rate to stay high: IMF
• The best and worst jobs – where does yours rank?

The news immediately caused the dollar to jump from just over 77 US cents to closer to 78 cents. However it soon dropped to 0.774 US cents.

The ABS said the number of people employed increased in March by 37,700, reaching 11,720,300.

The number of men in full-time employment increased by 24,800, while the number of women in full-time employment increased by 6,700.

The total number of hours worked in March were 1.73 billion.

While the surprise drop in unemployment is potentially very good news for the economy, in trend terms it represents no change, at 6.2 per cent.

Nevertheless, the March figure is far below the IMF’s forecast that unemployment will average at 6.4 per cent for 2015.

Responding to the figures, Employment Minister Eric Abetz said: “We are absolutely determined to create every possible opportunity to create jobs in Australia,” adding that he devotes “every waking moment” to achieving this goal.

Source: The New Daily

Intergenerational Report says Australians to work longer

Opinion: Public expectations with retirement and living longer are in a period of transition

WELL I’ve finally reached the proverbial three score years and ten as mentioned in Psalm 90.

It is the scriptural statute of limitations. After age 70, I am supposed to be a time-expired man and become an honorary member of the community. This I am not.

In recent months, a public debate has raged in Australia surrounding the rising retirement age. Labor increased the retirement age to 67 and the Liberals are proposing age 70 by 2035.

Forecasts predict that by 2050 the ratio of working age to retired aged Australians will fall from 5:1 (in 2010) to 3:1.

RETIREMENT: Treasurer Joe Hockey issues call to arms for grey army

TOOLKIT: Quarter of Bunnings’ workforce aged over 50

OPINION: Inability to find jobs for older people reveals gap in pension policy

ACTU president Ged Kearney believes the Government is out of touch with the reality of life for Australian workers and predicts it will lead to grandmothers and grandfathers joining the dole queue.

In my case and for many of my friends, this could not be further from the truth.

Working to age 70 and beyond does not have to be drudgery or a sentence to toil in the salt mines. It is about staying engaged, alive and purposeful. It is also a good way to keep a financial safety net in place just in case.

The ballooning number of older workers highlights a retirement revolution. As people live longer, public expectations with retirement are in a period of transition. For many aged 65 and older, it is a positive choice.

Employers are realising that older workers offer a good work ethic.

One of the keys is finding age-friendly employers that respect older workers and offer job flexibility options. Employers are realising that older workers offer a good work ethic, are punctual, willing to work on weekends, get on well with customers and rarely complain. Businesses that offer flexible employment options to older workers see them as a good investment.

I have enjoyed a career and lifestyle transition with multiple options and experienced no difficulties adjusting to new work requirements. I continue to work 20 to 30 hours a month but at a different pace. Older workers like me from diverse career backgrounds find employment such as promotional or customer service workers in large retail chains or shopping malls, in hardware chains, in coffee shops and food outlets or conduct field interviews for research firms. I am registered with five different employers who offer me work opportunities. My life is now a mix of working, learning, relaxing, and trying new things as well as a time of growth and reinvention.

For those who want to work, but are lucky enough not to need the income, volunteering is a wonderful option. Volunteering is a great way to stay active while making a significant contribution to a worthy organisation. Volunteering opportunities abound in every community.

But it’s not all work with no play. My wife and I are avid snow skiers and travel to Canada for four weeks to ski each year. We also manage to enjoy a driving holiday somewhere within Australia annually.

Retirement used to signal the end of a productive life for workers, but more and more, retirement is now a transition point for beginning a new phase of your life. For those approaching retirement, now is the time to develop a strategy to work fewer hours, try a new career or business, learn new skills, further your education, give back through volunteering and most importantly, enjoy life.

Ian Wallace is a Brisbane freelance writer and retiree

Source: Courier Mail

Grey army marches back to work

THE AUSTRALIAN
MARCH 06, 2015

Joyleen Thomas, 73, works full-time in the aged care sector as an administrator, the oldest worker in the 2000-employee ACH Group. Picture: Kelly BarnesSource: News Corp Australia

JOYLEEN Thomas’s career began at 42, after she spent two decades out of the paid workforce to raise her family.

Now approaching 74, Mrs Thomas has worked from the “bottom of the rung” to become the oldest full-time worker of 2000 employees at aged care provider ACH Group and has no plans to retire.

Part of her job at ACH’s Adelaide headquarters is to evaluate programs to improve the quality of life of aged care residents.

“I have no idea when I will give up work … quite a lot of people I know have left and then come back into the workforce. My husband is an accountant; he works two days a week and he’s older than me,’’ she said.

INTERACTIVE: The InterGenerational Report

“It’s my choice. My husband says that I’m healthier and more vibrant than when I was home with my children. What we know today is that people like me may live to 100 — we don’t want to just exist for those years.”

Mrs Thomas said although her husband had experienced ageism when seeking work after an initial retirement at 67, she had felt no pressure to retire from her role.

Although the Intergenerational Report projects Australians over 65 will increase workforce participation this year, reaching 17.3 per cent in 2054-55, finding a job at an advanced age was proving difficult, said Mark Henley, advocacy manager for financial counselling and community support service Uniting Communities.

He said financial pressures were forcing more older people back to work beyond retirement.

“We see more older people wanting and needing work because they can’t afford to retire. Jobs for older people is more the issue we see,’’ he said.

Council on the Ageing South Australian chief executive Jane Mussared said the report’s aim to increase Australians’ longevity and health should be celebrated.

“But we also need to increase the opportunities for older people to stay in and, in many cases, get back into, the workforce,’’ she said.

Although work participation rates are expected to fall by 2.2 per cent to 62.4 per cent by 2055, Ms Mussared said the participation rate of people aged over 55 was climbing slowly climbing.

Source The Australian

Joe Hockey asks Aussie workers to save the nation by delaying retirement until after 65

•40,000 Aussies will reach the age of 100 by the middle of the century

•Life expectancy will jump to 97 for women and 95 for men

•By 2055, number of people reaching retirement will have doubled

•Unexpected trend shows many over-60s already returning to work OLDER Australians are being urged to stay in the workforce longer to support a rapidly ageing population.

Treasurer Joe Hockey yesterday issued a call to arms for workers to delay their retirement until after 65 to future-proof the nation for the coming generations. It comes as the five-yearly Intergenerational Report, released today, reveals Australians born after 2055 are expected to live to an average of almost 100 years, placing a massive burden on the shrinking tax base needed to pay for the demographic shift.

Almost 40,000 Australians will have reached 100 by the middle of the century, an increase of well over 300 times the 122 people of that age alive in 1974-75. And more than two million will be aged over 85 — compared with 80,000 in the mid-1970s — representing a fivefold increase to almost 5 per cent of the population. “We need a call to arms for a grey army,” Mr Hockey told The Daily Telegraph. “We want you. We want you at the front. Not grey nomads but a grey army of workers.”

The report says that with improvements in health and new technologies, the average life expectancy of Australians will be 95 years for men and 97 for women by 2055, compared with 80.7 and 84.8 now. In 1905 it was just 55 and 59.

Life expectancy Joe Hockey needs YOU … to delay retirement. .

But illustrating the looming budget and economic crisis awaiting Australia if pre-emptive social and fiscal reforms are not undertaken now, the report also reveals the number of people reaching the current retirement age of 65 will have almost doubled by 2055.

The problem for the next generation is that the ratio between the number of people of traditional working age — between 15 and 65 — and retirees will have halved. In 1970, there were an average of 7.5 people of working age relative to those of pension age. This has shrunk to 4.5 today, and it will again halve by 2055 to just 2.7 workers for every retiree. “There will be fewer people of traditional working age relative to each person aged over 65,” the report says.

The strain on the economy and the federal budget due to a shrinking number of workers paying income tax relative to those of pension age will be immense. But in encouraging signs that older people are willing to work if the opportunities are created, the report forecasts that about 20 per cent of all people aged over 65 will still be participating in the workforce.

The report reveals an emerging and unexpected trend showing over-65s are already returning to work. The damage to pension funds caused by the global financial crisis meant many people could not afford to retire, and this trend will continue. Today, some 10 per cent of over-65s are working, and this is forecast to rise to 20 per cent by 2055. The Greens said they would push for the report to be referred to a Senate budget committee for scrutiny.

KEITH’S ONLY TOO HAPPY TO SHELVE HIS RETIREMENT

Ian Walker RETIREMENT seemed a good idea at the time. But after a couple of years out of the workforce, Keith Wardle, 59, from Rouse Hill decided days working on the house were not doing it for him.

Now working as an assistant at Masters Home Improvement’s new Rouse Hill store, the former Rolls Royce customer service worker loves his new lease on work life. “I was just excited about the chance of getting back out there to become more active,” Mr Wardle said.

Keith Wardle, 60, at work yesterday in his second career, at Masters Home Improvement “I wanted to get back into the workforce, the DIY thing was fine but I wanted to get back out there and start challenging myself. “I had no idea how it was going to work out, but within a few weeks I was really enjoying what I wanted to get back into the workforce, the DIY thing was fine but I wanted to get back out there and start challenging myself Keith Wardle I was doing. For the last couple of months I’ve been flat out. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.” As one of the more experienced hands on the floor with 40 years of technical experience, Mr Wardle has passed on pearls of wisdom to younger workers he has taken under his wing.

Preparing him and his wife for long-term retirement also pushed him to start earning again. Mostly, however, it was the chance to make his DIY passion his livelihood. The full-time appliances showroom assistant does not plan on retiring for a second time any time soon. “I just want to keep going. I like to be occupied, I like to be active.”

Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au

Australian women want to work until they’re older, but study says it’s not so easy

MARCH 05, 2015

Joe Hockey says Australians need to be encouraged to work until later in life, but they say it’s not that easy. Source: Getty Images

GOOD luck with your ‘grey army’ Joe Hockey. Ageism is alive and well among employers, according to a study of Australian women.

The treasurer is urging older Australians to stay in the workforce beyond the age of 65 as the government’s five-yearly Intergenerational Report will today reveal Australians will soon have a life expectancy of almost 100.

The report suggests those who are not working, women in particular, need to be encouraged to get employment, re-enter the workforce, or prolong their careers.

Join the grey army … Joe Hockey’s report says older women need to be encouraged to work longer. Source: News Corp Australia

But ask older women, and they’ll tell you it’s not that easy.

A survey of 14,000 Australian women has revealed almost half believe they had personally been discriminated against because of their age, and 62 per cent of respondents believed employers are more likely to hire a candidate under the age of 40.

Sydney case worker Janice Quillity was made redundant when the company she worked for restructured three years ago, and has found it difficult to find work ever since, and believes it has a lot to do with her age.

The 53-year-old was told bluntly by an employment agency she should give up looking for work in her profession and just go for “a survival job”.

“I was told, just face it, you’re too old,” she says.

“When you’re competing for work with younger women, who may not be as qualified, who can be paid less and have a work ethic that’s more in line with the cost-cutting measures that employers seem to have in place, then it seems a lot harder.”

Source: DailyTelegraph

Ms Quillity relocated from the south coast to Sydney where she thought there would be more opportunity, and is desperate to find a job.

“I’m 53, I’m still a long way from retirement, I’m still needing work,” she says.

“I guess younger candidates might look better in suits, they might communicate better and it is competitive, but us older workers have a stronger work ethic. Especially in care professions, we really care.”

CEO of the Heat Group, the company that conducted the study, Gillian Franklin, says she was not surprised by the results, and thought the Treasurer’s suggestion older women needed to be encouraged to stay in the workforce was off the mark.

“That is a huge challenge. It’s not because women don’t want to work, it’s not because older people don’t want to work, but because employers discriminate against them,” she says.

“I was disappointed that the number is still as high. We’re aware that women believe they are discriminated against in the workplace because of their age and appearance, but employers should value experience of both older and younger workers to bring diversity to the workplace.”

Source: News Limited

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