Posts Tagged “mature age jobs”

Jobless rate is more than just a number

Date: April 23, 2015

Madonna King

Every unemployed person has a story, and they need the Premier’s help. Photo: Gabriele Charotte

Revelations that 41,000 people applied for 1250 jobs in one big federal government department shows a hint of the heartache unemployment is now causing in the wider community.

And it’s the issue that Annastacia Palaszczuk in Queensland and Tony Abbott in Canberra should be most worried about.

Their ability to turn it around should also be the yardstick by which we measure their success.

The state’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate now sits at 6.6 per cent. In percentage terms, it might not sound much – but it equates to 164,000 Queenslanders.

That is 164,000 people in this state who are both unemployed and actively looking for work.

And here’s the rub. It does NOT include those who have given up looking for a job. Nor does it include those who have been able to nab one or two hours a week.

Indeed, that latter group is considered “employed”.

Nationally it’s a similar story, with 768,600 people unemployed and actively looking for work.

And if that’s not a genuine cause for alarm for our political leaders, they will never understand the lives of their voting masters.

Numbers can often hide the hardship that lurks behind them. A father who loses his job means his child is withdrawn from tennis lessons.

A mother who can’t find work can mean the family defaults on a mortgage.

A teenager, who spends months searching for a job, can give up and fall into an unemployment black hole, that is now not measured at all.

A university graduate who cannot find a job as a teacher might follow the same course, or choose another path. Either way, their learning is lost to those classes they would front in other circumstances.

Those stories are playing out each day in the community without making headlines, and that makes them easy stories to ignore.

But each job loss causes a ripple beyond one family, putting a strain on relationships, networks and charities.

And it makes a mockery of those calls for us all to work until old age steals our last breath.

How many companies are genuinely committed to employing someone over 50, despite a resume packed with experience? Hardly any.

How many of those workers laid off in recent years, after years or even decades of loyal service, have the confidence to apply for a job? Not as many as you might think.

What happens when the applicant, despite their best effort, gets their 16th knock back? Ask a welfare agency.

That’s the social impact behind our jobless rate, and it’s an impact that always builds silently, until it explodes as a voter revolt at the poll, or as a welfare crisis, which costs enormous amounts of taxpayer money.

Annastacia Palaszczuk marked job creation as her government’s number one priority ahead of the January election.

She avoided targets, like her predecessor, choosing to announce that a Cabinet subcommittee would be charged with leading a local jobs boost.

That could be an important first step, but we need to hear the “jobs, jobs, jobs” mantra that filled her campaign speeches before the election more now she’s in charge.

This time, it’s Annastacia Palaszczuk’s job that depends on it.

Source: The Brisbane Times

Age discrimination reported by 27% of older workers in Australia

Shalailah Medhor

Human Rights Commission report found ‘a third of people who had experienced age discrimination gave up looking for work as a result’

More than a quarter of employees aged 50 and over reported experiencing some form of age-based discrimination in the workplace, a new report by the Human Rights Commission has found.

A survey of 2,109 people shows that 27% of older workers said they were the victim of discrimination on at least one occasion in the last two years. That figure jumps to 41% of low-income earners, defined as those who make $35,000 or less a year.

A much higher ratio of single parents with dependent children (45%) reported age-based discrimination in the workplace than those whose children had left home and those without children.

The most common forms of discrimination include the limiting of employment, promotion or training, the perception that older workers were slow adaptors or have skills that were outdated, and being exposed to ageist jokes or taunts.

“The findings of the first national prevalence survey clearly indicate that age discrimination discourages older workers from remaining in, and re-entering the workforce,” the report said.

“It is particularly concerning that a third of people who had experienced age discrimination gave up looking for work as a result. Almost half began to think about retirement or accessing their superannuation fund.”

The report finds that few people choose to take action against the discrimination, while many leave a job as a result of it.

“Unfortunately there is no surprise [in the findings],” the head of National Seniors, Michael O’Neill, said. “This is confirmation of a problem that has been widely reported.”

O’Neill eschews extra regulation or the implementation of quotas for older workers, saying recognising the value of a diverse workplace through cultural change is more effective.

“These results are a call to action for government, employers and all those who make decisions about the hiring, training and promotion of staff,” the report said.

The federal government is pushing to increase the retirement age to 70 by 2035, and its recent intergenerational report highlighted the economic need for workers to remain in the workplace for longer.

Labor increased the pension age from 65 to 67 when it was in government, but opposes the plan to raise the age to 70.

The Human Rights Commission last week announced that it will hold an inquiry into the obstacles to work faced by older people and people with disability.

The commission will report back on the findings of the inquiry in July 2016.

Source: The Guardian

Senior workers ‘could add billions to economy’

Australia’s Human Rights Commission will lead an inquiry into age discrimination in the workforce as the Federal Government finds employment rates for older Australians ‘disturbingly low’.

The Australian government has commissioned a national inquiry into workplace age discrimination.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there are around 5.5 million Australians aged 55 years and over, making up one quarter of the population. But seniors represent just 13 per cent of the workforce.

The Australian Human Rights Commission will lead the inquiry.

‘Employment rates for older Australians and people with a disability remain at disturbingly low levels and we know that is largely as a result of discrimination,’ Attorney-General George Brandis said as the launch in Sydney.

Age and Disability Commissioner, Susan Ryan, said there are many false perceptions about mature workers that are influencing companies hiring decisions.

‘They won’t adapt to change, they won’t learn new things, they won’t get on with the dynamic younger employees.. now, none of that is supported by evidence, but it is still believed by too many employers’ said Ms Ryan.

The Commissioner said senior workers could add billions to Australia’s economy, if there was a slight increase in the number of aged workers.

‘If we could increase the participation of Australians over 55 in the workforce by just five per cent, we would get a $48 billion a year annual impact.’ Ms Ryan said.

According to the Human Rights Commission, unemployement and under-employment of older Australians costs over $10 billion to the economy each year.

‘The Finishing Touch’, a Melbourne based moving and packing company, prides itself on being an age friendly employer and said it’s a win-win situation for companies.

‘We have over a dozen staff working for us currently who are aged 70 years plus. It’s a win-win situation you end up with a great employee whos able to make a really good contribution.’ said Steve Hitchings, the owner of The Finishing Touch.

The moving and packing company employs more than 250 workers – their average age is 56 years old.

Employee, Jan French is 59 years old and said she enjoys her work.

‘I like to keep busy and with this job there’s a lot of flexibility, clock in and out when we want, go for a holiday we can do other things.’ said Ms French.

The inquiry will consult with businesses and members of the community across Australia and could recommend changes to Commonwealth laws.

The inquiry will report to the Federal Government by July 2016.

Source: SBS News 16 April 2015

Surprising Ways Older Workers Find Second Act Jobs

Donna Rosato @RosatoDonna

March 31, 2015

If you’re older and have been out of work for a while, try these strategies to land a new job

A new report by the AARP Public Policy Instituteuncovered some surprising strategies that older workers are using to get back into the workforce.

That’s important because, while the job market is significantly better overall, the situation is still dismal for the long-term unemployed. The jobless rate for people out of work six months or longer is 30% vs. 5.5% overall.

Older workers make up a distressingly large portion of that group: 45% of job seekers 55 and older have been looking for work for six months or longer.

The AARP report examined the job search strategies that led to reemployment for people age 45 to 70 who were unemployed some time during the last five years.

It found big differences in job search strategies between older workers who landed jobs and those who are still not working.

The overall picture is mixed: Among those older workers employed again after a long time out of the workforce, some were earning more, getting better benefits, and working under better conditions. But for many, the jobs were not as good as the ones they had lost: 59% of long-term unemployed older workers made less money, while 15% earned the same and 25% made more.

So, what set the successful job seekers apart? These moves stand out.

Embrace change. Almost two-thirds of reemployed older workers found jobs in an entirely new occupation and women were more likely to find work in a new field than men. Of course, some of the unemployed didn’t choose to switch occupations. But for others, the change was a decision to do work that was more personally rewarding and interesting or even less stressful with fewer hours. Whether it was by choice or design, broadening your job search may pay off.
Go direct. Older reemployed workers were much more likely—48% vs. 37% of those still looking for work—to contact employers directly about jobs instead of just applying to the black hole of online job postings.
Network strategically. Everyone knows that networking is the best way to get a new job but apparently talking to everyone you know may not be the most effective method. While half of those who landed a new job reached out to their network for leads, only 34% of the unemployed used personal contacts at all. But the reemployed were less likely to rely on friends and family to find out about job opportunities, focusing instead on professional contacts.
Move fast. When hit with a job loss, many people use it as a time to take a break or think about what they want to do next. That lost time can cost you. The reemployed were much more likely to have begun their job search immediately or even before their job ended than those who are still unemployed.

A couple other surprising findings about what works and what doesn’t: Conventional advice is that the long-term unemployed need to keep their skills up to date if they are jobless for a while. While that can certainly help, additional training didn’t make much difference between those who landed a job and those who remained out of work.

As for social media: While 56% of the reemployed found job boards a good source of job leads, just 13% said online social media networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook were effective in helping them get a new job.

Among the most ineffective strategies: Using a job coach, talking with a headhunter, and consulting a professional association.

Older worker pool can’t be wasted: Hockey

Joe Hockey says employers need to make their workplaces more flexible for older Australians. Photo: AAP.

Employers may need more help to change their attitudes about taking on older Australians, Treasurer Joe Hockey has told a public forum.

They may also need to make their workplaces more flexible so that older workers are more able to work.

“Whatever the case, we cannot afford to let this large talent pool go to waste,” Mr Hockey said in Canberra on Wednesday.

Mr Hockey’s intergenerational report released last month, highlighted that as Australians are living longer, they need to work longer.

If older workers do not stay in the workforce for longer, fewer people will be working and paying taxes to fund health, education and other things we take for granted today.

“If we don’t do something, we risk reducing our available workforce, impacting negatively on growth and prosperity, and our income will come under increasing pressure,” Mr Hockey said when the report was released.

The intergenerational report, a five-yearly review of the next 40 years, anticipates economic growth will slow slightly due to an ageing population.

Average annual growth is expected to be 2.8 per cent over the next four decades, compared with 3.1 per cent in the past 40 years.

There will be only three workers in the traditional age range (15-64 years) for every person aged over 65 in 2054/55, compared with 4.5 people now and 7.3 in 1974/75.

Mr Hockey has previously stated that increased productivity and workforce participation is needed to drive prosperity through economic growth.

“If we are to achieve these goals, we need to encourage those currently not in the workforce, especially older Australians and women, to enter, re-enter and stay in work, where they choose to do so,” he said.

Source: AAP

Employers overlook older workers

By Carmen Hall

Tuesday Apr 7, 2015

John Harper has been a plumber for 40 years and hopes to work up to or beyond retirement age

Employers are likely to overlook older job seekers, a new report reveals – but local recruitment agencies say although it is more difficult for those aged over 50 to find jobs they are harder workers.

A survey from the Auckland University of Technology and Equal Employment Opportunities Trust found there was a “tipping point,” typically at about 50-60 years of age, at which workers were seen as less attractive.

It also showed 45 per cent of organisations were facing a skills shortage, which was combated by people continuing to work past retirement age.

“You have to be open to the best person that comes through the door, whether they are male, female, old or young.”

However, negative stereotypes about older workers persisted among some employers, managers, young workers, clients and within society itself, despite it being unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of age in employment under the Human Rights Act 1993 and Employment Relations Act 2000, the survey found.

Human Resource Group company director Brett Looker said: “It is harder once you get over 50.

“It’s possibly a preconceived perception by the general public that candidates may not be as quick to pick up on business systems and processes if they are moving into a new role, in terms of the IT challenges. Another reason is they may not possibly fit with the existing team, which may be younger.”

However, he preferred to steer candidates through to clients in that age group because they often had a strong work ethic, and were reliable and honest.

“You don’t get the contrast of a Generation Y type group, which sometimes isn’t as strong, so there is lots of positives.”

There was a skills shortage in Tauranga in some areas, Mr Looker said, including engineering, housing, construction and senior management roles.

“I interviewed a guy recently who was a quantity surveyor in his late 60s but whether or not I have a role for him is difficult to know, for the very reasons we have talked about.”

1st Call Recruitment managing director Phill van Syp said he found older people “just get on with the job, they are more focused on what they need to do rather than – you know – what is in it for me?” “You would be an ignorant employer if you isolated your market,” Mr van Syp said.

“You have to be open to the best person that comes through the door, whether they are male, female, old or young.”

Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty Grey Power president Christina Humphreys said older people were discriminated against when applying for jobs.

“You don’t get the contrast of a Generation Y type group, which sometimes isn’t as strong, so there is lots of positives.”

“We are having a problem. We know people are not getting the jobs because they are older.”

She knew of people who had applied for over 20 jobs in a month and were depressed after continually making the shortlist but missing out. “They have got the qualifications and they all get to the 11th hour, and we know it’s because they are older.”

Bay of Plenty/Coromandel Master Plumbers Association president Craig McCord said the average age of a plumber was 55 and he employed eight people aged over 50.

However, most people had put down their toolbelt by the time they reached retirement age.

“The cut and thrust is, it’s too physical.”

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce interim chief executive Toni Palmer said age was not what defined an employee but more how they worked within an environment and what they brought to the workplace.

Employers did not necessarily see people over 50 as less employable, as they would look at those employees for the skills they had, she said.

“And as skills are becoming more difficult to get, then the age of the employee becomes less relevant, at either end of the age scale.”

Employees now moved more frequently to build a career and gain knowledge, she said.

No downing of tools for plumber

Tauranga plumber John Harper has no intention of retiring any time soon.

The 59-year-old said he would definitely work to 65 or possibly longer as his job was keeping him active.

“I am enjoying what I am doing and I don’t think that reaching 65 would change that much.”

His job could be physically demanding but he was up for the challenge.

“We are always moving around; sometimes you’ll be climbing or crawling on your knees and on your back or digging so you are quite mobile.”

But that was good for working up a sweat and getting the heart rate up, he said.

Employment

New Zealand recorded the second highest employment rate of people aged 55-64 among OECD countries in 2012 and 2013 and third highest of people aged 65-69 in 2012.

As at June 2014, 22 per cent of workers in New Zealand were aged 55 or over.

Government predicts this will rise to 25 per cent by 2020, with many likely to remain working beyond 65.

The proportion of the labour force aged 65 or over (currently 5 per cent) is expected to increase to 13 per cent by 2036.

– NZ Work Research Institute

– Bay of Plenty Times

Linfox stands down unfit, middle-aged workers without pay

Date: April 4, 2015

Nick Toscano

Older warehouse workers are being stood down without pay at Linfox sites across Melbourne, fanning fears the transport giant is forcing out permanent staff in favour of “churn-and-burn” casuals.

John Russell has been laid off by his employer Linfox on returning to work after a back injury with 37 years on the job. Photo: Simon Schluter

John Russell looked over the letter from his boss again, staggered by the news.

The forklift driver had taken time off work with a shoulder injury but his doctor had cleared him as fit to return. He assumed his job of 37 years would be safe. He was wrong.

The letter from transport giant Linfox said the 65-year-old was now stood down without pay after an assessment by company doctors. It said he was deemed unable to perform “inherent requirements” of the job, specifically, using a hand-held scanning device.

Older workers like Mr Russell are being stood down from Linfox warehouses across Melbourne, according to their union, which has accused the company of phasing out permanent staff in favour of “churn-and-burn” casuals from labour-hire companies.

Organisers say up to 100 older or unfit workers have been targeted at a single distribution centre in Truganina over the past 12 months, under a “blanket policy” to wipe out those unable perform every aspect of warehouse work.

The figure is not disputed by Linfox, which said the stand-downs were the result of productivity-boosting initiatives introduced last July at the distribution centre that Linfox operates for Coles.

Mr Russell spent most of his working life employed by Linfox, Australia’s largest private logistics company. But he is now in limbo – jobless without being officially terminated, and unable to claim the pension.

“I felt terrible, actually,” he said.

“Linfox has hundreds of sites around Melbourne and there must be jobs out there with lighter duties if that’s what they want … but they are replacing the older people with younger casuals [who] they can work as hard as possible. It shows a lack of loyalty and disrespect.”

National Union of Workers organiser Matt Toner said the company had instituted a blanket policy of targeting workers it considered “liabilities”.

“Within a warehouse there are different jobs done by people who are a bit older and have been with the company a long time, like fork-work, lane-marshalling and clerical,” he said.

“But new management now says that unless you are doing everything here, we don’t want you here.”

Mr Toner said workers planned to step up industrial pressure on Linfox management to stop older staff being “thrown on the scrap heap”.

A Linfox spokeswoman said the new processes at Truganina were communicated to company employees and were not in violation of workplace law.

“To date, the Fair Work Commission has not indicated that Linfox is in breach of the relevant provisions arising from the national enterprise agreement or with respect to specific general protections arising from the Fair Work Act,” she said.

The company had also engaged an workplace expert to draw up “reasonable expectancies” for orders to be completed and ready for distribution, she said.

Industrial tension between the union and Linfox appear to escalating after the company recently filed a submission to a sweeping review of the Australian industrial relations system. Linfox alleges shift workers were harassed by union recruiters at the site in 2013 and has made fresh calls for restrictions on organisers entering workplaces.

The union strongly denies the claims, and said it was disappointed by the company’s decision to air allegations dating back two years. Linfox’s submission includes extracts of 10 written complaints by workers employed that year and said existing right-of-entry laws lacked balance.

Source: Brisbane Times

Employment service providers paid to place jobseekers in roles lasting only a month

Tony Abbott says shorter roles offer a ‘stepping stone into secure long-term jobs’ but Labor says it is simply the revival of a failed Howard-era policy and will increase jobseeker churn

Corangamite MP Sarah Henderson with Eric Abetz, Tony Abbott and the assistant employment minister Luke Hartsuyker launching jobactive on Tuesday. Photograph: Karen Sweeny/AAP

Employment service providers will be offered cash incentives to place jobseekers in short-term positions as well as longer term ones under changes announced by the federal government on Tuesday.

The new “jobactive” system will offer service providers a payment for filling four week-long vacancies, as well vacancies lasting 12 or 26 weeks.

“In the past we have only paid on 12 and 26-week outcomes,” the prime minister,Tony Abbott, told reporters in Geelong.

“We know there are a lot of short-term jobs available, particularly in regional Australia, there are jobs that are seasonal and these are often the start of someone’s renewed connection with the labour market. That is why an important innovation in this new jobactive system is the four-week outcome payment.”

Abbott said short-term work was “the best possible stepping stone into secure long-term jobs”.

“The best preparation for work is work,” the prime minister said.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said the policy would “encourage service providers to churn vulnerable jobseekers through multiple short term job contracts in order to claim multiple payments”, ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said.

“The ACTU has consistently advocated for the government to introduce a 52 week payment to incentivise service providers to place jobseekers into long-term work. This would be a much better alternative to a four week payment.”

The initiative, which comes off the back of the Howard-era Job Network policy, has been panned by Labor.

“The government’s return to the failed Job Network model, with a new name, will not help unemployed Australians into work,” shadow employment minister Brendan O’Connor told Guardian Australia.

“We are not convinced the introduction of a new four week payment will do anything to support job seekers into decent work. Instead it will lead to increased jobseeker churn and job insecurity.”

O’Connor said that the Coalition must not take resources away from jobs training.

“Labor is deeply concerned that the new employment services model will in fact leave job seekers without the support they need,” he said.

Under the jobactive scheme, money for training will be provided only if jobseekers need it to secure a position that has already been advertised. Job agencies will have to risk their own money to provide individuals with training they think will be needed to gain employment more broadly.

David Thompson from the peak organisation representing non-profit employment services, Jobs Australia, welcomed the jobactive scheme, but warned that the training element “might be too restrictive”.

He said many long-term unemployed people needed training to reorient themselves to workplaces before applying for specific jobs, and that training could help jobseekers whose industries were suffering job losses.

“The labour market of today and the labour market of tomorrow are very different,” Thompson said.

The employment minister, Eric Abetz, said unemployed people who took on short-term contracts or undertook work for dole programs were healthier.

“All the data tells us that if you are gainfully employed, your mental, physical health, yourself esteem and social interaction are all enhanced and not only for you as an individual but everybody else in your household.

“That is why, for the long term unemployed, to be engaged in work for the dole, for example, is not only an important mechanism to say thank you to your community, but it is also of untold social good to the individual,” he said.

A total of 66 job agencies have been offered contracts to deliver on the jobactive scheme, from the 184 that put in tenders. Their contracts will last for five years rather than three, a move the government said will provide certainty for service providers.

The new scheme begins on July 1 and also includes targeted programs for Indigenous jobseekers based on the work undertaken by mining magnate Andrew Twiggy Forrest, who has conducted a review into Indigenous jobs and training.

“He has been a real apostle of getting away from this training for training’s sake notion and ensuring that people are being prepared, not for training but for work,” Abbott said of Forrest.

The government will implement job targets for Indigenous jobseekers for the first time under the new initiative. The targets will vary from region to region.

“The targets will ensure that employment service providers are finding jobs for Indigenous jobseekers at the same rate as for other job seekers in a region,” a spokesman for the Indigenous affairs minister, Nigel Scullion, told Guardian Australia.

“Providers will also be held accountable for their performance in meeting these targets through the star ratings system. A poor performance will affect an organisation’s star ratings and this will have an impact on whether they are given any future business from the government.”

Source: The Guardian

Federal government to confirm plans to expand work for the dole to 49 year olds

MARCH 27, 2015

New program … The federal government will confirm its expanded work for the dole program next week. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

AUSTRALIANS who are under 50 and out of work will be forced to work for the dole from July.

The move comes as part of an overhaul of the job placement system designed to cut red tape and put an end to wasteful taxpayer subsidised training that doesn’t lead to work.

Currently, only jobseekers aged from 18 to 30 who live in 18 trial sites across Australia are required to undertake compulsory work for the dole.

From July, the scheme will be expanded nationally and take in all job seekers up to the age of 49.all job seekers up to the age of 49.

The new mutual obligation requirements will see Australians under 50 having to undertake work for the dole programs for 15 hours a week, for six months of every year they remain unemployed.

New system … The federal government is poised to announce the outcome of its tender process for the $5.1 billion job services network. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Those under 30 will have to do 25 hours of work for the dole a week, and all job seekers will have to apply for 20 jobs a month – half of what the government initially proposed when it released the details of tender process this time last year and was forced into a back down.

TOUGH CHANGES: Jobseekers must look for work daily

HIT LIST: Abbott government reveals the first work for the dole regions to be targeted

Assistant Minister for Employment Luke Hartsuyker, who is expected to unveil the companies and organisations who won government contracts to place jobseekers in work next week, said the job placement system needed an overhaul because it was mired in red-tape.

“Employment providers had become tied up with endless paperwork — providers told me how they spent more than 50 per cent of their time filling in forms,” Mr Hartsuyker told News Corp.

“Job seekers complained of completing endless amounts of training but with no job opportunities; one job seeker told me he could have wallpapered a room with all the certificates he had.”

It is understood the new model will provide financial incentives for job service providers to place people in real jobs — not just send them to training courses, or process job application forms.

News Corp Australia understands job providers will receive outcome payments after placing unemployed people in work for 4, then 12, and then 26 weeks.

Job service providers will be offered 5 year contracts in a move designed to provide greater consistency for the employment services sector, and providers working in regional areas will receive additional payments to recognise the difficulties of placing job seekers in work outside the major cities.

Laws passed last year designed to crack down job seekers who miss compulsory interviews with their job placement provider, will also take effect from July, and will see welfare payments suspended and not back-paid for failing to attend regular meetings without a reasonable excuse.

In the last financial year alone, about 4.5 million compulsory appointments were missed by jobseekers.

Source: News Corp

Older workforce needs fresh blood

Nathan Woulfe Recruitment Editor | 28th Mar 2015

OURS is an aging population, a fact that brings with it a double impact on health care and social services.

As older workers move into retirement, they take with them decades of valuable experience, reducing the collective skill set of the labour force.

As they move into retirement and then old age, they put their own pressures on the sector as their demand for services increases – demand which must be met by a smaller labour force.

Given that two-pronged pressure, there is some relief in the continued strong employment growth in the sector over the past decade. It’s the largest employing industry in the country, accounting for about 12% of total national employment, or some 1.4 million workers.

More than half a million of those workers are located outside state capitals.

Over the five years to November 2017, according to the Department of Employment, employment in the sector is expected to continue to increase strongly, adding more than 177,000 new jobs – more than one-fifth of the total new jobs expected over the same period.

The industry’s workforce is female-dominated – most of the largest occupations have relatively small proportions of males employed. It also has a slightly higher proportion of older workers than the average across all industries.

Workers in the health care and social assistance industry are generally highly skilled. Most workers hold post-school qualifications, reflecting the requirements for entry to most of the occupations that are key to the sector.

A high proportion of workers are professionals (almost twice the average for all industries).

Nurses could be one of the most heavily impacted industry subsectors as older workers move into retirement.

The average age of Australia’s nurses is increasing, with nearly one in four now aged 55 or older.

There are plenty of nursing graduates ready to step up into the positions vacated through retirements, but while they can bring untapped enthusiasm, they bring little to no experience.

How to combat that talent drain remains a large issue facing the healthcare sector, but one that ensures plenty of opportunities for those looking to start a career in the industry.

Source Queensland Times