Posts Tagged “jobs for older workers”

Everydayonomics: The despair of being over 60 and jobless

Date: December 7, 2014

Matt Wade

Stuck “on a human hamster wheel”: Older unemployed people are likely to remain unemployed much longer than younger people. Photo: Greg Newington

One of the most confronting interviews I have done this year was with Glenda Ellwood-White, a 60-year-old who has been out of work for more than five years.

She lives with her 23-year-old son in a granny flat in Sydney’s inner west. Her income is so low she often cannot afford meals and when she does eat, the menu is monotonous.

“I often think my stomach will kill me if I have any more noodles,” so I often just have a piece of toast and a cup of tea,” Ellwood-White told me.

She likens life on the Newstart benefit to being stuck “on a human hamster wheel”.

We do not hear that much about the struggles of older unemployed people such as Ellwood-White, but it turns out they are likely to remain unemployed much longer than younger people.

Analysis by Marcia Keegan, an economist with consultancy SGS Economics and Planning, shows that a quarter of those aged 45 to 64 remained unemployed for more than a year compared with only 15 per cent of people aged under 44.

“If you become unemployed at an older age, your chances of finding a job are a lot lower than someone who becomes unemployed at a younger age,” she said.

The problem is most acute for those aged over 60 – two-thirds of Newstart recipients in that age group have been out of work for more than 12 months.

So why are older workers so much more likely to be unemployed long term?

Prejudice is a major factor. The Australian Human Rights Commission says discrimination can be found among the job applicants as young as their mid-40s. A recent job search experience survey found almost one in five people aged 45 to 64 felt their age was the main difficulty they faced in finding work. Ellwood-White claims her long search for a job proves age-based prejudice is “rife”.

Another explanation is that employers fear a short period of service from older workers.

“If an employer interviews someone in their late 50s or early 60s, they might think the person is going to retire in a few years or take their superannuation tax-free,” Dr Keegan said. “They think they might be able to keep a younger worker for longer, but this is very unfair, because workers in their late 50s or early 60s often want to work for another 10 years or more.”

But older workers can sometimes be demanding. When Keegan explored what wages unemployed people wanted, she found older people, especially men, tended to have higher expectations than younger workers. This might encourage employers to go for younger workers, especially if they have been out of work for a long period.

Disability is another factor. More than 30 per cent of workers aged 60 to 64 have some sort of disability that limits job options. In contrast, the rate of disability among those aged 15 to 24 is only about 8 per cent. The good news is that the proportion of older workers with a disability is falling – among 60 to 64-year-olds, the rate dropped from close to 40 per cent in 2003 to about 33 per cent in 2012.

This year’s federal budget introduced a new policy to reduce mature-age unemployment called Restart. Employers will receive $10,000 over two years when they employ a person aged over 50 on income support for at least six months.

Even so, older workers are a significant part of a growing longer-term unemployment problem in Australia. This year, the rate of long-term unemployment has climbed to 1.2 per cent of the labour force – well above the decade-long average of 0.92 per cent. The Fairfax-Lateral Economics Wellbeing Index – which puts a dollar figure on national welfare – shows the well-being cost of long-term unemployment has surged in the past year and is now a $2 billion-a-year drag on the nation’s collective well-being. Much of the pain is being felt by those aged in their 50s, 60s and 70s.

Source: SMH

Recruiters need to educate businesses in benefits of older workers

Thu, 27 Nov 2014

Increasing numbers of older workers make it even more important for recruiters to convince their clients of the benefits of employing them.

This was the message from panellists discussing diversity issues at an event, hosted by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), at Global Recruiter’s conference in London this week.

Sarah Gordon, associate director of Sammons Group and chair of REC’s diversity and inclusion forum, said when it comes to increasing diversity, including the employment of older workers, recruiters can add “a huge amount of value” because they have to take the time to get to know candidates, which are then recommended to clients after they been through an “objective” recruitment process.

She said: “There is a lot of unconscious bias out there so it is having that awareness and putting coping mechanisms in place to do our best to eliminate it as an industry. There is an appetite out there from clients. Obviously, there are some clients who are not aware they are discriminating. It is our role to educate as well.”

Catherine Finney, who is part of the fuller working lives team at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), pointed out that by 2020 a third of the UK workforce would be over 50. While older workers are less likely to be made redundant, if they do lose their job they are more likely to become long-term unemployed, explained Finney.

“There seems to be a barrier when it comes to getting [older] people back into work,” she said, “which seems counter intuitive when they have got all this experience and all these skills.”

An audience member pointed out that it could be difficult for recruiters to put older candidates forward in the construction sector because they were more expensive and clients wanted workers to “grow” with the company.

Gordon acknowledged that attitudes to older workers do vary from sector to sector.

Recruiters, she said, should give clients a “reality check” on how the modern workforce works and that jobs for life no longer exist.

Finney added: “I’m not saying older workers shouldn’t want career advancement but they are not necessarily in that same phase of their careers as a younger worker.”

Robert Livingston, a professor in organisational behaviour and director for the Centre for Leadership, Ethics and Diversity, said older workers are an important part of a diverse workforce and have a lot to contribute in terms of team dynamics.

Older workers, said Livingstone, can also draw out positive behaviours in younger workers and achieve return on investment for the employer because of their reliability and loyalty.

– See more at: http://www.recruiter.co.uk/news/2014/11/recruiters-need-to-educate-businesses-in-benefits-of-older-workers/#sthash.NF3fy38M.dpuf

Hard times loom for too many boomers

Date: November 26, 2014

John Collett

Baby boomers caught short on retirement

The last of the baby boomers will turn 50 by the end of the this year. Often it is the big five-o that starts people to really think about saving for their retirement.

So with all of those born in the two decades to 1964 now either retired, or galloping toward it, there are bound to be changes to the economy and society in general.

Boomers have changed each life stage they have passed, and older boomers are redefining what it means to retire.

Retire in peace: for many baby boomers retirement may not be as comfortable as they would like.

They want to be able to enjoy the lifestyle to which many have become accustomed during their working lives.

However, there are challenges. While many have benefited from rising house prices, for many others, the size of their superannuation accounts is not big enough to afford the retirements they would like.

More boomers are entering retirement with debt and their adult children are staying at home for longer, which is making it harder to save.

Looking to the future: About 35 per cent of baby boomers describe themselves as “completely unprepared” for retirement.

Not enough saved

A survey on behalf of industry super fund REST, released early last year, found a disconnect between what boomers expect their retirement to be like and what reality has in store.

It found 35 per cent of boomers described themselves are “completely unprepared” for retirement, 51 per cent as “somewhat prepared” and only 14 per cent as financially prepared.

Universal compulsory super only started in 1992, so boomers, older ones in particular, have not had the benefit of the superannuation guarantee over their whole working lives.

In a second REST survey of over-50s, released in June this year, one quarter said they had less than $50,000 in super, with a further 12 per cent having $50,000 to $100,000 in super.

Not surprisingly, only half of over 50s say they are looking forward to retirement. It seems it is more likely to be outings in the tinnie rather than cruising down the Rhine or Loire.

“This group who started their working lives before the advent of compulsory superannuation are trapped between a rock and a hard place,” says Damian Hill, the chief executive of REST.

Nearly two-thirds estimate they will need to rely on the age pension to supplement their retirement income, highlighting the fact that the system came too late for some to get the maximum impact,” he said.

Wait for age pension

However, younger boomers are going to be waiting longer for the age pension and the pensioner concessions that come with it.

The Abbott government is to further increase the qualifying age for the age pension to 70 by July 1, 2035. The increase will be phased-in.

The higher qualifying age will affect younger boomers more than is likely realised. The exact qualifying age will depend on actual birth date but, very roughly, anyone aged about 49 or younger now will have a qualifying age of 70.

The youngest boomers (those aged about 50) will be waiting until they are 69 for the age pension. For those aged 55, it is 67 and for today’s 60-year-old it is 66.

It is not just a longer wait for the pension, but starting in 2017 a couple of measures will tighten access to the pension and the fortnightly pension will be indexed to inflation, rather than to wages, which grows more quickly than inflation.

As well, it is only a matter of time before the preservation age, the age at which superannuation savings can be accessed, is increased. Like the increase in the age pension qualifying age it would be increased gradually, but could rise to age 65 to maintain the five-year gap with the new age pension qualifying age.

Call to action

Olivia Maragna, a financial planner with Aspire Retire, rarely sees boomers who cannot make relatively small changes in their weekly budgeting that will put them in a position to have the lifestyle they want in retirement.

A good adviser should be looking line-by-line on spending and giving advice on how they can make little changes on all aspects of their financial affairs, she says.

Sometimes, boomers have to be told that they are not going to have the retirement they want if they do not makes changes now.

Claire Mackay, a financial planner and a chartered accountant at Quantum Financial, says: “You cannot have a champagne lifestyle on a beer budget.” She says: “If you do not have discipline around expenses while you have regular pay coming in, it is going to be that much harder in retirement.”

Mackay says usually the first things new clients will ask her is how much money they will need for their retirement, and whether they are on track to get there.

Mackay does modelling for the client that shows the outcome if the client keeps doing what they are doing. The modelling shows how, by making some small changes, such as spending a bit less, they will be able to live better in retirement.

Though, for many boomers, even making small savings, such as salary sacrificing into super, can be difficult as many of them are sandwiched between looking after their ageing parents and their adult children.

Sandwich generation

Laura Menschik, a financial planner and director of WLM Financial Services, has many boomer clients who are sandwiched between caring for aging parents and their adult children.

Many of the younger boomers still have sizeable mortgages. More of their adult children are going onto full-time tertiary eduction and staying at home for longer.

High rents and high house prices, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, are also keeping adult children at home for longer. Menschik says she is coming across more boomers who say they want to help their children into the property market.

She says, some of her clients who do not have the cash to help their children with a house deposit do look to access part of their super if they can.

“I am not saying it is for everyone, but it is a trend for those baby boomers who have done well out of property themselves,” Menschik says.

The parents have to be able to afford it, Menschik says. You do not want to be going back to the children some years later and saying you need to money back, she says.

Though there are challenges, retirement is exciting, Mackay says. It is the time you can do what you want to do. “I have had clients come to me months before they retire; it is never too late to start,” she says. “If you have a plan you then you can make adjustments.”

Home to fund retirement

Many boomers will have seen the value of their homes rise considerably, and that is likely to prompt them to think that the house could be the answer to the retirement-saving shortfall.

According to the latest MLC Wealth Sentiment survey, released in October, 11 per cent of adult Australians plan to sell the family home to fund their retirement.

About 8 per cent said they would draw down equity in their home to help fund their retirements. The others were either unsure what they would do or said they had no plans to sell their homes.

Menschik says people who sell the family home and then buy the apartment on the coast often find they do not have much left over.

“They want the nice apartment with the view and there is not much left over, especially after the high costs of moving,” she says. These include high transaction costs such as stamp duty.

They will probably want at least a couple of bedrooms to accommodate visitors. Older boomers looking for a quick fix may be tempted by a reverse mortgage, which is a way for home-owning retirees to free some cash while staying in the house. They are usually available to over-60s who own their home outright.

The money can be taken as a lump sum or as an income stream. Menschik says reverse mortgages can be suitable. There are no repayments on the loan, which is repaid when house is sold. That will be when the owner dies, moves to a smaller house, or moves into a retirement home or an aged-care facility. As there are no repayments on the loan the interest on the loan is capitalised.

They have to understand the debt can grow to be a large of chunk of the sale price of the price of the house, especially over long periods, Menschik says. That will leave less for the owner to fund aged care after the house is sold or to pay for medical expenses.

An alternative to reverse mortgages is run by the government and is cheaper than a reverse mortgage from a bank. Centrelink and Department of Veterans’ Affairs have a Pension Loan Scheme where those on a part age pension can take out a loan that is repaid when the property, which can be an investment property, is sold.

The loan can only be taken as an income stream. It is limited to that which, when added to the part-pension, takes them to the maximum pension. There are conditions, but the scheme is available to some retirees of age-pension age who are not receiving the age pension.

Bucket list

An online poll was conducted early this year of 1000 people aged 55 plus on behalf of REST super fund. Over half of older Australians said they have a retirement bucket list. Of those with a bucket list:

More than half (53 per cent) want to travel the world.
Four in 10 (43 per cent) want to go on a road trip.
One third (36 per cent) want to visit a world famous attraction or event like Machu Picchu, Niagara Falls or the Rio carnival.
One in seven (14 per cent) want to swim with dolphins.
15 per cent want to write a book.
One in 10 (11 per cent) want to learn to play a musical instrument.
30 per cent want to leave an inheritance to their children.

Action plan

Thirty-seven per cent of over-50s say they have less than $100,000 in super.
It is never too late to start a plan for retirement.
Professional advice can help clarify what is needed.
The earlier a retirement strategy is started the better.
Releasing equity in the house to help fund retirement has to be approached with caution.

Source: SMH

Working in retirement to become a way of life

Ageing workforce…Many couples are unable to retire and will have to keep working service industry jobs. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

TWO-THIRDS of Australians expect to keep working well beyond the official retirement age, but many are worried that their ageing bodies won’t let them.

A new study has found that 40 per cent of people hope to work “as long as possible” and another 27 per cent say they will be forced to work into their old age because they will need the money.

However, more than one-quarter believe they will struggle to do their jobs by age 70, says the Galaxy report commissioned by workforce management solutions company Kronos.

Ageing workforce…A new study has revealed that 27 per cent of people say they will be forced to work into their old age because they will need the money. Picture: Supplied. Source: Supplied

And an increasing generation gap in the workplace threatens to drive them out, with tensions stemming from younger workers being unwilling to accept advice from their older colleagues.

“Employers who ignore changes in workplace demographics may find themselves confronting increased office disharmony,” the CEO of Kronos Australia and New Zealand, Peter Harte, said.

He said the trend of working past age 65 would continue to grow because many people wanted to be more active as they aged and others “have no choice but to work for as long as possible”.

Australia’s pension age of 65 is set to rise incrementally to 67 by 2023, then 70 by 2035. The upward shifts start in 2017, moving to 65.5 years.

New trend…Peter Harte, CEO of Kronos Australia and New Zealand said some people retire later to keep active while others have no choice. Picture: Supplied. Source: Supplied

Social research group McCrindle says Australia has 3.45 million people aged over 65, and this is forecast to grow to 4.76 million in 10 years and 7.75 million in 30 years.

McCrindle director of research Claire Madden said people were tempted to stay working for longer by a desire to remain active, scars from the global financial crisis, cost of living pressures, increased lifestyle expectations and even new expense categories such as smartphones and tablet computers.

“The concept of retirement is being redefined by today’s generation of Baby Boomers,” she said.

“They are wanting to remain active contributors and find work is a fulfilling way of doing it.”

Source: News Corp Australia Network

Early retirement unlikely for most older workers in Rocky

Sherele Moody | 18th Nov 2014 7:31 AM

PLANNING an early retirement?

You may want to think again if new research released today holds true.

A Galaxy Research study reveals about 27% of Rockhampton’s 16,207 residents aged over 65 can expect to be working into their 70s.

The study found that one quarter of us wanted to retire as early as possible, but 27% would be forced to work longer due to dwindling finances.

And 42% of the 1800 people surveyed said it would be hard to cope doing their jobs at 70.

Managing director of Capricorn Investment Partners David French believes people should be working for as long as they can and start planning their finances in their 40s.

“For the good of society people need to keep being productive until they’re not able to,” he said.

“It’s obviously going to be pretty difficult for some people who have manual jobs and it’s natural for people of that age not to maintain the same amount of strength but people need to keep in mind that we are living a lot longer these days; the average age of death for baby boombers is 92 now.

“Although it might be nice to retire when you want, it would be better to work for as long as you can and earn money to support yourself for when you physically can’t work any longer because the government pension accessibility age will keep progressing to 70.”

Mr French also believes people should be starting to think about their future no matter what age they are.

“People in their late 20s are starting to buy their own houses which is great,” he said. “But people in their 30s and 40s need to get really serious about saving and their superannuation because the government isn’t going to be standing behind you as much as they did before.”

WORK, WORK, WORK

The Rockhampton region has about 16,207 people aged over 65.

25% of older people want to retire as early as possible.

27% will be forced to work into their 70s due to money problems.

42% say it will hard to cope doing their job at 70.

40% of people want to keep working because it’s good for their health.

Source: Galaxy Research; University of Adelaide Public Health Information Development Unit

Source: News Mail Bundaberg

A post-retirement nomadic work life

You don’t always have to choose between working and living your dream nomadic life. It is possible to do both.

Posted by Megan Blandford on 12 November 2014

Image: Getty

Every winter, Trish Harper is based in Rubyvale, a small town in outback Queensland where the brolgas dance below bright sunsets, and finding sapphires is the dream of many.

Trish and her husband, Robb, spent their working lives behind a desk – her doing administrative work at a high school, him working in a newspaper pre-press department – and focus their retirement on something vastly different. While in Rubyvale, Robb mines on their land lease while Trish works as a local tour guide. Or, as Trish puts it: “I buy him jack hammers and he finds me sapphires – that’s fair!”

Working while they’re on the road wasn’t the initial plan but Trish says you have to just go along with things sometimes. “Another lady who works there (at Miner’s Heritage mine tours) was going on a holiday and they were looking for someone to fill in for her, so I did it and I’m still there,” she says, adding that she wouldn’t have it any other way. “I do underground tours and I show people how to fossick for sapphires; it’s great when someone finds a sapphire and they get so excited. I just love it.”

But the big attraction to her job is the people she meets. “I meet lots of people who want to enjoy and see the same things that I really enjoy,” Trish says. “I really like sharing it with them and they just want to know more about the place. Everybody who goes there is fascinated by it.”

When they’re not in the Queensland gem fields, Trish and Robb could be anywhere in Australia: at their home in Cairns, travelling around Tasmania in their caravan, touring the Kimberley, or finding small towns that surprise them – just as Rubyvale, the only place they work these days, did. “You have to give those quiet little places a chance,” Trish says. “There’s something there and you’ve got to stop and find out what it is.”

The flexibility of this nomadic lifestyle is perfect for the couple right now and Trish says that mindset is the key to retirement. “I don’t think you can have a dream that doesn’t change when you retire. You hope for a lot of things and if you’re lucky enough to live long enough and stay healthy enough, your dream evolves.”

And ultimately, it’s about having all choices available to them. Trish works the hours she wants at Miner’s Heritage and the rest of the year they just go where they feel inclined to be. “On the back of our caravan we say every day is ‘Chooseday’,” laughs Trish. “We get up and choose what we’re going to do that day, where we’re going to go, how long we’re going to stay there, and when it doesn’t feel right we pack up and go.”

It’s the ultimate post-retirement nomadic life, with a touch of an encore career about it, and another way to make retirement a reality in your own way.

Source: Living Well Navigator

8 Mindset Shifts Needed to Go From Older Employee to ‘Silverpreneur

NOVEMBER 11, 2014

Whatever your age, to stay on top of things in a fast-changing world, you have to learn new skills. For an increasing number of individuals, figuring out how to become an entrepreneur later in life is one of them.

More and more mature employees are realizing that to move on from where they are, they need to cast off the burden of employment and reinvent themselves as “silver entrepreneurs” with businesses of their own.

Much of the recent rise in self-employment in the United Kingdom from 2008 to 2013 (some 84 percent) can be attributed to those 50 and older, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation reported in 2009 that in the decade prior, entrepreneurial activity in the United States “the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity belongs to the 55-64 age group.”

Entrepreneurship is not just a young person’s game. And far from being a sign of midlife crisis, leaving behind the apparent safety of employment when you’re 50 makes perfect sense.

The following eight points are worth considering and might change your outlook as you ponder a possible move from older employee to “silverpreneur.”

1. Having a job no longer offers security.

Being in a job doesn’t make you secure. That’s the hard truth that many have had to confront in the years since the recent financial crisis. And just because the economy is recovering well, doesn’t mean the same crisis could not happen happen.

Recent world events show how quickly things can change, often with unknown consequences. Which is why more and more companies are looking to build flexibility into their business by taking on fewer permanent staff and looking to ensure they can shed jobs easily should the worst happen.

2. Your current job is disappearing.

Even if you are not being pushed out of your job right now, you won’t find it as easy to find a similar post, at a similar level, as you once might have. That’s because the role you currently perform is increasingly being replaced by new and different roles, or will be given to younger newcomers willing to work hard for less.

3. Technology innovations are arriving faster.

There was a time when robots were thought of as science fiction. Today, robots (or at least sophisticated software programs) are performing tasks that used to be done by highly trained and skilled professionals.

4. Knowledge and experience are an advantage.

Soon, as many as four generations will be working together, meaning that your career ladder could be cut off prematurely by younger techno-savvy employees who might even become your boss.

But your wealth of experience need not go to waste if you choose to start up your own business. Other Kauffman Foundation research foundthat many founders of successful companies didn’t set them up until they 40 or older. So see your age and the experience you have accumulated — from wherever it comes — as an advantage.

5. Setting up a business is easier.

It’s easier than ever these days to set up a business, given the low cost of technology. You no longer have to set up a bricks-and-mortar business with expensive premises or lots of stock to pay for. You can now succeed with an online business with just a good idea and a small budget to spend on IT equipment and software.

Lower startup costs mean less risk, so it should be easier to convince others that becoming a silverpreneur isn’t madness. And the best time to get going is while you still have a job.

6. Raising capital is possible.

If you need funding, you may well have some financial reserves to draw on or be in a strong position to borrow, as you have a financial track record.

And with several crowd-funding platforms to chose from, you can raise money even more quickly and easily. You just need a compelling pitch for others to believe in your idea and help you succeed.

7. A comfortable retirement is often just a dream.

Retirement is now an outdated concept that you need to revise. It’s not just a case that the retirement age is continuing to creep up or that many are need to keep working to maintain a lifestyle. The fact is, you should be looking to make a contribution in some form throughout your life so as to make you feel younger for longer.

It just doesn’t make sense to throw away all your knowledge and experience just because of a particular date on the calendar. With life spans increasing, you could easily change your career when you’re 50 or 60 or embark on an exciting entrepreneurial venture for the next 20 to 30 years.

So why be stuck in a dull retirement when you could take control of your life and do something interesting, rewarding and fulfilling while contributing to society at the same time?

8. Life is about continuous learning.

One way to improve quality of life as people live longer by keeping thier brains active through continuous learning. The day you stop learning is the day you start becoming old, independently of your biological age.

There will be those who tell you that entrepreneurs are born and not made. When it comes to serial superstars like Richard Branson, that may be true, but there are more than enough examples of mature professionals who successfully set out on their own in later years. Look at Ray Kroc who set up McDonald’s at age 52.

So, if you want to be a silverpreneur, what should you do?

Simply change your mindset. You’re probably thinking you’re too set in your ways and that you can’t possibly do something so radical. I’m here to tell you that you can — if you want. Life is shaped by the decisions you make.

So stop labeling yourself according to your age or what you’ve done for a career to date. By seeing yourself as a manager, accountant or marketer, you’re subconsciously telling yourself that’s what you are and this stops your reinvention.

If you need business training or guidance (and you almost certainly will if you’ve only ever been an employee), find the right courses and programs that will give you the needed skills. Better still, find a mentor, someone with business experience to provide feedback about what you’re doing or intending to do. You’ll learn faster and avoid costly mistakes.

And with economies around the world still so uncertain becoming a “silverpreneur” is the best retirement plan because only then will you be in control of your life and your future.

Source: Entrepreneur

Why treat older workers as a hindrance rather than a help?

ALI CLARKE
THE ADVERTISER
NOVEMBER 09, 2014

Mark Knight cartoon.

IF you want to break up a party start talking about climate change. Pretty soon the gathering will be split either side of the cheese cubes and pickled onions.

I won’t delve into that debate now, except to say we’ve taken our eyes of the real climate-change ball, which is less greenhouse gases and more our ageing population.

While this demographic move won’t necessarily change the temperature, it’s certainly changing the environment and atmosphere in which we live.

Recently I had the pleasure of hosting an active ageing forum and was overcome by the frustration expressed by many attending.

These were stakeholders who recognise that not enough is being done to turn what is culturally still seen by many as handicap into what is actually an exciting opportunity.

It breaks my heart when I talk to people who feel trapped in a job they hate because they know no one’s likely to choose a 50+ worker over someone younger should they decide to leave.

I hate it when I hear from those who are made to feel useless or an imposition to be worked around — instead of being valued as someone who brings real life experience to the table.

While these biases are being broken down in some areas, they are alive and kicking in so many others.

The thing that’s most frustrating is that many initiatives which would encourage active, integrated ageing are so damn simple a child would recognise the benefits. There are real business cases for looking after the older work force, but still not enough is done.

Not sure? Well here are some facts from Canadian Colin Milner, the head of the International Council on Active Aging and Professor Graeme Hugo who specialises in Australian population and migration research at Adelaide University.

One out of every two adults in the US will be 50+ by 2017 and they’re worth seven trillion dollars in annual economic activity — yes, it’s a bigger scale but you can’t deny their financial importance.

One out of three people who are 65 will fall every year and by the age of 80 nearly half of us won’t be able to lift four-and-a-half kilos.

Whereas the last generation predominantly retired with a partner, one in four baby boomers will do it alone. And while they’re supposed to be healthier than ever, this is also the first generation to have led sedentary lives.

There’s a higher incidence of chronic diseases, diabetes, asthma, sleep apnoea and arthritis. And while people may be living on average an extra nine years, the very real question is: Are we just ‘‘rescuing them from death’’ instead of enabling them to live out their lives in a healthy manner?

The fact our superannuation is based on the last year of earning, not the average of someone’s lifetime, discourages people from transitioning their employment status so we’re losing great chunks of intellectual property instead of allowing it to be transferred.

And finally a case study I thought I’d share to show how it can be done courtesy of car giant BMW.

They’ve recognised the value and experience of their older workers so in their manufacturing plants they replaced concrete floors with wooden sprung ones, developed and supplied specialised shoes and increased the size of their data screens.

How simple is that?

Oh yeah, and Australia is only 13th best when considering the treatment of its older generations.

The secret to all of this is to correct long held prejudices about ageing workers and encouraging healthy ageing over our entire life course.

We can’t just keep focusing on the kids as our ‘future’ because this issue is the present and is only going to get bigger.

We must see older adults as untapped potential that can build a silver economy for this country and provide a stable business climate, even if our weather one might by muddled.

Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan says workplaces need an overhaul to stop age prejudice

Date: November 10, 2014

Clare Colley

Reporter at The Canberra Times

Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan. Photo: Andrew Meares

Lifting the pension age to 70 will make sense in the future, but first there must be a massive overhaul to keep people in the workplace, Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan says.

Ms Ryan said the federal government’s plan to raise the pension age to 70 by 2035 came as a “bombshell” to many older workers but was a signal things had to change now.

“We’ve got people in their 50s who are considered too old to be employed,” she said.

“Let’s address that problem now and then by the time we get to 2035… if you fixed up the workplace… you’d find most people would want to keep working until they’re 70.

Ms Ryan will deliver the keynote speech on Tuesday at the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia annual symposium tackling the “extremely timely” topic of population ageing and Australia’s future.

“The whole issue of the impact on the economy of the ageing population needs more attention,” she said.

“I’m trying to focus decision makers on this huge looming issue of a rapidly growing older age group, but not an age group that needs to be seen just as a burden… mostly people retain health and energy until they’re 70 and… a willingness to work in the appropriate way.”

Ms Ryan said in coming weeks the commission would begin surveying employees and employers across the country to assess for the first time the prevalence of age discrimination in the workplace.

“We are hoping to get from that… a national picture of how much age discrimination there is, what the factors are that cause people to leave the workplace too early,” she said.

“I’m keen to see a better picture of how far having a higher education assists you in your working life… we want to see if it assists people stay in the workplace for as long as they want to.”

She said governments need to think ahead and plan for industry changes that left older workers in their 50s and 60s highly-skilled but unemployed and unable to find a new job because of age prejudice.

Her solution would see older workers undergo a “career check-up” giving them advice about finding a new skills base if needed.

Although blue-collar and trades workers are often the hardest hit, Ms Ryan said they weren’t the only ones affected by the widespread problem.

“You certainly see it in white-collar jobs, particularly in the middle level… in public and private sectors,” she said.

“Everyone should have the opportunity to recheck where they are going at about 50.

“If the sector they’re in is losing jobs they can see… where the other jobs are, what training they need and how they can get it.”

She said the “coordinated national approach” would need input from state governments, business leaders and training institutions, but should be led by the federal government because of the massive impact on the national economy.

Rather than “massive new funding” it would require “better investment in capable middle-aged workers”.

Modelling by Deloitte Access Economics for the Human Rights Commission shows that a 3 per cent increase in workforce participation for workers over 55 – beyond an already expected 2.7 per cent by 2024-25 – would contribute an extra $33 billion to Australia’s GDP.

Ms Ryan said it showed the economy could be massively strengthened without huge changes.

“The people are there, they want to work, they’re able to work… it’s a matter of having an approach and a system that brings the skilled highly-motivated mid-life workers into a position where they are able to take up the jobs that are available,” she said.

Work output and flexibility keys to future workplace

DAMON KITNEY SURVEY
THE AUSTRALIAN

A focus on the skills Australia needs in the coming decades

EMPLOYERS would put more focus on work output instead of work hours in the workplace of the future, but senior managers are divided on whether increased flexibility would enhance or damage productivity, according to a new survey.

The study conducted for The Australian by Hall & Partners Open Mind of 103 senior managers across a broad range of industries found nearly two-thirds expected flexible working arrangements to become more popular in the future.

Almost 70 per cent believed more people would work freelance or as consultants, but opinions were mixed on whether flexibility would help or hit productivity.

The survey was conducted across a range of industries including manufacturing, resources and energy, aviation, transport and healthcare.

Almost 70 per cent of respondents said there would always be a need for a central physical office.

A study released last month by the Australian Communications and Media Authority found that as of May this year there were 5.6 million adults who used the internet to work away from the office outside “working hours”, or to work from home rather than coming into the office.

ACMA claimed this comprised 51 per cent of the total number of employed Australians at the time, which increased to 70 per cent when considering workers with a university qualifications.

While respondents to the Hall & Partners survey were overwhelmingly supportive of more workplace flexibility for employees, some expressed concern about the dangers of reduced worker accountability.

More than 60 per cent believed there was a danger that too much flexibility in the future workplace, could damage productivity.

Just over half agreed that a major challenge in offering flexible work arrangements would be the loss of management control over employee time.

The great majority (74 per cent) believed that training and education would have to improve so that workers were better prepared for change; and more and cheaper childcare services would be crucial in the future (68 per cent).

A majority felt that the education system or their companies did not provide adequate training to prepare employees for the digital era.

While more than half felt their companies were well prepared for the digital age, a majority were concerned about managing and protective privacy (78 per cent).

While 87 per cent believed the internet was important for their company, only 44 per cent thought likewise about the National Broadband Network.

In September a survey of more than 4000 people for NBN Co, the company delivering the network, found that one in 10 Australians would work from home more often if they had a better internet connection.

Seek co-founder Paul Bassat told The Australian and GE’s Powering Australia Future of Work forum that while the NBN had an important role in promoting workplace flexibility, a greater impact would come from the increasing availability of cloud-based software, which made it much easier to access software remotely.

‘’Having really, really good bandwidth — fixed bandwidth as well as mobile bandwidth — is really important and I think NBN has got an important role to play,” he said. “But it’s primarily just because we want people to have as fast a bandwidth as possible and it’s going to make flexibility much easier.’’

Cloud computing allows organisations to provide collaboration and communication tools, software, applications and access to documents and databases to their employees from anywhere.

It also allows small organisations to use video conferencing, a service normally only available to big companies with significant IT budgets.

Source: The Australian

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