Posts Tagged “mature age”

Older job seekers ‘remain unemployed for longer’

Date August 26, 2014

Natasha Boddy

Canberra Times

Older workers who find themselves out of work are likely to remain unemployed much longer than younger Australians and superannuation balances among those in their pre-retirement years are unevenly distributed.

Marcia Keegan, an associate with Curtin University and SGS Economics and Planning, said generous tax concessions for mature-age workers topping up their superannuation do not benefit people who find themselves out of work or underemployed in the latter half of their working lives.

Dr Keegan will give a talk about the option for sustaining workforce participation to retirement age and reducing superannuation gaps, at a forum at the Australian National University on Wednesday.

“Things have been getting a lot better for mature-age workers, those aged between 45 and 64, over the last 20 years or so; they’ve got higher rates of employment, lower rates of disability, they’ve got lower rates of unemployment and also their superannuation balances are growing on average,” she said.

However, Dr Keegan, said it still took much longer for older job seekers to find work compared to their younger counterparts. About a quarter of those aged 45 to 64 remained unemployed for more than a year; this was the case for only 15 per cent of people aged under 44.

This raised concerns about the impact of long-term unemployment on their the superannuation balances, she said.

Dr Keegan’s presentation will look at some of the difficulties facing older workers and discuss policy options that could increase employment for mature-age workers and boost the superannuation balances of those heading into retirement.

She said the government’s new Restart program should be “quite helpful” when it comes to encouraging the employment of older Australians. Under the program, employers will get subsidies of up to $10,000 for hiring mature-age job seekers.

“Older people have a greater risk of being long-term unemployed and they also run the risk of facing age discrimination in the workforce, so this will hopefully encourage some employers [to hire older workers],” she said.

Dr Keegan said changes that allowed older people to contribute extra to their superannuation could be quite helpful, but only to those who had employment.

“One of the things that was floated was getting rid of the low income superannuation contribution,” she said.

“Of all the ways the government can raise money from taxes, taking money from the retirement accounts of low income workers is probably not the first place you should be looking.”

Dr Keegan said moves to increase the pension age was a natural progression given life expectancies were increasing, “but that only helps if you’re able to work and able to find work”.

The Living to get the age pension and enjoy life in retirement: prospects and policy options forum will hear from several speakers discussing factors affecting the health and well-being of older Australians. It will also examine policy options that could address inequalities in retirement stemming from inequalities in earlier in life, particularly those associated with workforce participation and disability.

Richard Cumpston, director of Australian Projections, will also speak at the forum. He will discuss the topic of life expectancies, including the differences in people’s chances of dying, such as how married people are much less likely to die than unmarried people.

Dr Cumpston also said educated people tended to have lower disease risks, and people in high-grade occupations, such as professionals or managers, tended to have better life expectancies.

Why some candidates just always get it right.

Posted on September 1, 2014

Some job applicants just always get it right. Here is why. You know… the type that gets it right from the moment the recruiter or hiring manager spots them for the first time. They simply get noticed.

I regularly remind my clients how important it is to get the basics right if you want to be considered as a suitable candidate. It doesn’t take much if you want to get noticed and, more importantly, be remembered for the right reasons.

Here are 13 tips that will make you stand out as a candidate so you can secure your next job.

If you want to get your application to the top of the pile and fast forward to the front of the interview queue then get your highlighter and mark some or all of these tips so you can secure your next job opportunity.

Keep hunting, there are good jobs out there, just don’t forget to hunt wisely!

Written By

Ulrich Schild – The Job Search Coach

Ulrich Schild, The founder of TheJobSearchCoach.net has actively scouted, interviewed and hired many talented candidates for a variety of employers in Australia and New Zealand while being exposed to some of the very best and worst HR and recruiting practises.Ulrich has always known that he can help and contribute his bit to make Job Search, Job Seeking and the recruiting process easier and better.

Special Report: Ageism in the Job Market

Ageism in the Job Market

Are we our own worst enemies? Part 1 of a series on ageism in the workplace.

FIND A JOB by Eilene Zimmerman on 4/7/14

“We’re looking for someone hungrier.”

“The right candidate is high energy.”

If you’re over 50 and job-hunting, chances are you’ve heard phrases like these. Or maybe you’ve been told you’re overqualified or too senior. These are code words for “too old” and they pepper the language of hiring managers nationwide. Jacquelyn James, director of research at the Sloan Center for Aging & Work at Boston College says when people are asked on surveys to rate others on the basis of age and corresponding characteristics, older people are associated with negative traits that include a lack of interest in growing and developing, inflexibility in thinking and an unwillingness to learn and adapt to new technology. “The data about those kinds of traits are very mixed and much of it is perception,” she says. And some weren’t negative. “Older people are seen as having a good work ethic, as working harder and being more comfortable with authority.”

Add to such negative stereotypes the mistaken perception that people working into their 60s and early 70s are taking jobs from younger workers. Although arecent Pew study soundly debunked that, as does Kevin Cahill, a research economist at the Sloan Center, the belief is pervasive. Cahill says although people are retiring later, the idea that older workers need to move out of the way for younger workers is a misperception. “The argument breaks down pretty rapidly if you look beyond individual firms and over time,” he says.

But prejudice of any type, of course, isn’t based on fact, and much of the age bias we see in hiring is unconscious, says Jacquelyn James. That’s due, at least in part, to the fact that ageism is the least studied or examined form of discrimination. A recent paper on ageism from psychologist Susan Fiske and Michael North at Princeton University, called ageism “the most socially condoned” form of prejudice. And it has intensified. By the time people reach their mid-60s, two out of three have retired, either voluntarily or because they weren’t able to keep or find a job, according to research from Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. By age 75, nine out of ten are out of the workforce.

Among the long-term unemployed, the situation is most severe for those over 55, who face the longest period of unemployment. Carl Van Horn, director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, says although the number fluctuates, at least two million people over age 55 have been out of work more than six months and at least half of those for more than a year.

Because ageism is often unconscious it’s tough to disarm. With any bias, the key to mitigation is awareness, says James. Fact is, people generally don’t think of themselves as biased. In order to fight the stereotypes—say, that older workers don’t embrace new technology—James advises job candidates be explicit with interviewers that they are eager to learn, and have history of learning and embracing new technology.

With the right strategies, job seekers can combat age-related stereotypes rather than buying into them, says James, and take steps to adapt to the changing culture of the workplace.

Speak the Same Language

“People over 50 grew up talking about their accomplishments, about what they did and how well they did it,” says Gail Palubiak, owner of Interview Academy in Denver, a job search and interview consulting firm that specializes in over-50 job seekers. “But companies today speak the language of contribution. And this is critical—because you are likely interviewing with someone who isn’t the same generation. So talk about how you served a company, not how great you are.”

Palubiak says a candidate who gets an interview is close to getting the job; at that juncture, it’s primarily language that becomes the barrier—not age. “Rather than saying, ‘I was the number one sales rep in my division,’ say ‘The company encountered serious competitive challenges in my division. Through my actions, ultimately the company was able to…’ and then show the contribution you made.”

It may also help to simply swim in the same water as those under 40. On Facebook, impressions of older people among those in their 20s are very negative, according to a new study, “Facebook as a Site for Negative Age Stereotypes,” authored by Becca Levy, director of the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health, as well as researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, Hunter College and the Hopkins School. Levy’s research, which was published online in the journal The Gerentologist, found negative stereotypes of older people were rampant. “One of the conclusions we had from the research was that social networking could be a way to break down intergenerational barriers and a great resource for older adults,” she says, making connections that could help with their job search and illustrating publicly that they are comfortable with technology younger people use.

Present Well, in Real Life, on the Phone and Virtually

Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s career expert, says midlife job seekers often think they need to look younger, when what they really need is to look relevant. “Get your hair cut so the style is modern, wear something that makes you feel confident. You want to convey vibrancy, passion and energy,” she says. That goes for the photo on your LinkedIn profile too.

Companies often do a screening interview by phone before deciding to meet a candidate. Stand up and use a headset during that call, suggests Dana Manciagli, a career consultant and author of Cut the Crap, Get a Job. Manciagli says when you stand up, you dial up your voice and energy level. On the phone, age bias occurs when a candidate sounds feeble. “Even if it’s a 22-year-old screening you, it’s an interview,” she says. “Stand up, gesture with your arms and be energetic.”

Show a Solution

Remember that behind every job description lies a problem. As a candidate your questions should come early—rather than at the end of the interview as is traditional—to unearth the problems a company is trying to overcome. “Too often older candidates are preoccupied with trying to sell themselves, rather than trying to understand the issues facing the company,” says Palubiak. By offering ways you can contribute, you become a problem solver, she says, and that’s when age doesn’t matter.

Another strategy older job candidates often stress their expertise in a variety of areas. “It’s far better to stick to what your specialization really is,” says Palubiak. “It’s counter-intuitive, but trying to be everything to everybody dilutes your value in the market.”

Never Sell Yourself Short

Williams says midlife job seekers on LinkedIn often under-chronicle their experience, playing it down to avoid being dismissed as overqualified or too old. “A lot of employers have young employees and need older workers for their experience and ability to mentor, so don’t think there aren’t opportunities,” she says. “There’s ageism, yes, but don’t dig into that self-fulfilling prophecy that it means there’s nothing out there. As a 50-plus, promote your experience, your great organizational and leadership skills, and that you have a breadth of experience in your industry that will benefit a company.”

She also suggests addressing the elephant in the virtual room—that you are a midlife worker—rather than dancing around it, by doctoring your photo and leaving dates and experience off your profile. Williams suggests stating in the summary section that in addition to your long history in the industry you have “an abundance of energy you want to share,” she says. “Make it clear you want to spend the rest of your career contributing to a company you feel passionate about.”

Nantrepreneurs take the lead in business

Date: September 20, 2013

Belinda Merhab

Forget knitting and pie-baking – Aussie grandmas are going into business.

Australian women aged over 65 have been starting their own businesses at a rate higher than any other age group, with nantrepreneurs setting up 18,500 businesses in the past 10 years, according to the annual Bankwest Business Trends Report.

Over the past year, the number of over-65 female business owners jumped by 15.1 per cent, compared to one per cent growth by men in the same age bracket.

Bankwest business banking general manager Sinead Taylor said the figures showed older Australian women were looking for ways to boost their retirement incomes.

Over-65 women were primarily starting businesses in the `other services’ category, such as hairdressing, photography and gardening, she said.

“This trend can be attributed to a variety of factors like lifetime personal goals and people pursuing new interests,” Ms Taylor said.

“There’s also the impact of the global financial crisis on retirement nest eggs, forcing some retirees to supplement their superannuation by starting their own businesses.

“Age is certainly no barrier to entrepreneurialism.”

Overall, the number of Australians running their own business declined by four per cent in the year to May.

The only other age group to see an increase in business self-starters in the past year were the under-25s, with 2.5 per cent of workers in that age bracket owning their own business.

Ms Taylor said challenging economic conditions were driving entrepreneurs to seek the security of being an employee rather than an employer.

Source: SMH

New campaign backs older workers

The Human Rights Commission has launched a new video awareness campaign aimed at highlighting the value of older workers.

The Power of Oldness, launched by Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan and Minister for Employment, Senator Eric Abetz exposes the stark difference between the skills and strengths mature workers offer employers and organisations, with the discrimination they face when trying to gain or maintain jobs.

It is a web campaign aimed at raising awareness about the value of workers over the age of 50, with the video as its centrepiece.

Ms Ryan said Australians were living through a massive demographic change, but community attitudes, employer practices and business strategies seemed to ignore this.

“The Power of Oldness campaign will, we hope, prod everyone to recognise and act to stop age discrimination,” Ms Ryan said.

Rights Commission launches video

“Research undertaken by the Australian Human Rights Commission has found that one in 10 employers won’t recruit people over the age of 50.”

She said it was important that the experience and talent of older workers was highlighted as they already contributed to business and the community and had much more to offer.

Senator Abetz said the campaign was a way of getting the message about the value of older workers, to people of all ages around Australia.

“The video juxtaposes reality and perceptions in what I consider to be an active, pacey and poignant presentation,” Senator Abetz said.

More information on the Power of Oldness can be found at this PS News link.

Give experienced workers a fair go

Posted by Susan Ryan on 19 August 2014

Susan Ryan, Age Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission, calls on employers to take the age blinkers off and give experienced workers a fair go as part of a new positive ageing campaign titled The Power of Oldness.

Of all the complaints that the Australian Human Rights Commission receives about age discrimination, almost 60 per cent relate to employment. And these figures are an underrepresentation of overall cases. I also receive letters from older people and their families who do not wish to make a complaint, but want their stories to be heard. Their stories of repeated effort and repeated knockbacks are heartbreaking.

At a time when we are living longer and healthier lives, and when the Australian economy is crying out for skilled works, this should not be happening.

As Age Discrimination Commissioner my constant message is – give experienced workers a fair go. Take the age blinkers off and assess job applicants for what they can bring to the task.

When we waste the talents of mature workers, we not only harm them as individuals, we harm the economy, to the tune of billions of dollars lost each year.

I am encouraged that the challenge has been recognised by the Federal Government. An initiative announced in the budget shows leadership in the matter of recruiting and keeping mature workers.

On 1 July the Restart Programme commenced. This programme offers an incentive of $10,000 over two years to employers who hire a previously unemployed person over 50.

There are thousands of experienced capable older workers ready to work. All employers should look at the widest talent pool available, and appoint the best person for the job. Often, the best person will be the one with extensive, relevant work experience.

I am confident that when employers avail themselves of this incentive and take on an older person, the negative stereotypes about experience will disappear.

My message to employers is to give a 50-plus worker a go. Help restart their career – you won’t know what you’ve been missing out on until you try it.

For more information about the Restart Wage Subsidy, visit the Department of Employment’s website.

Source: Living Well Navigator

Susan Ryan is a regular contributor to Living Well Navigator. Read more of Susan’s opinions on positive ageing:

Helpful links Australian Human Rights Commission Restart Programme

Helpful links

Australian Human Rights Commission
Restart Programme

How to talk to your older workers

Posted by Judy Higgins on 30 July 2014

In workplaces all over the world, managers are for the first time dealing with the issues that arise when up to four generations work side by side.

Older workers stay on in employment for a variety of reasons. Some can’t afford to retire, others enjoy work and choose to continue, and in many cases mature employees want to build up their superannuation.

Organisations put themselves in a vulnerable position if they don’t have a profile of workers based on age and by section of the organisation. In an environment with an ageing population and ageing workforces, organisations need to be on the front foot. A profile of the age of your workers is essential, and a strategy to address retention and transition to retirement should now be part of any human resources strategy.

Talk to your older staff about their working plans. You will need to discuss:

How long they intend to continue working
Do they intend to keep working the same hours or slowly transition to retirement?
Will they be able to continue to do the same job for those years or will they need to re-train?
Developing an individual workplace plan

Critical to the effectiveness of this exercise is ensuring the discussion takes place in a non-threatening manner and that mature-age workers feel comfortable and confident to take part in the discussion. A carefully worded letter or memo should be sent to individuals from the Managing Director or CEO, advising them how valued they are and how serious the organisation is about retaining and working with employees who may be thinking about retiring.

Given that the age to access the age pension may rise to 70, considerations of older workers will be more important than ever. There are also many who will not want to work that long, and if they are some of your key people you need to know, and you need to have a strategy to address filling the gaps.

You must also make sure you have the policies and procedures in place to reflect that your company is sincere about valuing its older workers, and has the flexibility and trained managers to work in the best interests of all stakeholders. Companies that don’t do this well risk losing years of experience and knowledge that could be detrimental to their business.

Source: The Living Well Navigator

The Power of Oldness – Youtube

Greying of workforce good for economy

Saturday Aug 16, 2014

Brian Gaynor on business Business Economy… Employment Opinion

Only Chile, Iceland, Mexico and Korea have a higher percentage of the 65-plus age group in the workforce than New Zealand, where increasingly more young adults are extending their education.
Only Chile, Iceland, Mexico and Korea have a higher percentage of the 65-plus age group in the workforce than New Zealand, where increasingly more young adults are extending their education.
The New Zealand workforce has changed dramatically over the past 24 years.

In mid-1990 our workforce was young and energetic with 338,500, or 22 per cent, of all employed workers in the 15 to 24 age bracket. By mid-2014 the total number of 15 to 24 year old workers had declined to 325,700 or just 14 per cent of the workforce.

This development has been mainly due to a dramatic increase in the number of 15 to 24-year-olds undertaking additional, post-secondary school education.

Meanwhile, the number of workers aged 65 and over has soared from 23,900 in 1990 to 127,500 in mid-2014. In other words individuals aged 65 and over now represent 5.5 per cent of the workforce compared with just 1.6 per cent 24 years ago.

Energetic grey-haired men and women have replaced young employees in shops, offices, medical centres and other areas of employment.

Based on current trends there is a strong possibility that by 2054 there will be more individuals from the 65- plus age group in full or part time employment than 15 to 24-year- olds.

This has major implications for our economy, NZ Superannuation and KiwiSaver.

The accompanying table shows how employment trends have changed since mid-1990, particularly as far as the 15 to 24 and the 65 and over age groups are concerned.

The first point to note is that the unemployment rate is the number of individuals who are actively looking for a job but cannot find one.

The second point is the participation rate, which is the percentage of an age group in the workforce, both employed and unemployed.

The participation rate for the 65 and over age group has soared from just 6.9 per cent in 1990 to 20.6 per cent in the June 2014 Household Labour Force Survey. The 65 years- plus male participation rate has risen from 10.6 per cent to 26.5 per cent while the female rate has increased from 4 per cent to 15.3 per cent over this 24-year period.

There are more elderly New Zealanders in the workforce than in most other countries. For example, our 65-plus participation rate is 20.6 per cent compared with 18.7 per cent in United States, 12.1 per cent in Australia and just 9.8 per cent in the United Kingdom. Europeans retire much earlier, with France, Germany, Italy and Spain having 65 years of age-plus workplace participation rates of 2.3 per cent, 5.5 per cent, 3.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively.

Only Chile, Iceland, Mexico and Korea have a higher percentage of the 65-plus age group in the workforce than New Zealand.

There are a number of reasons why more and more of the 65-plus age group are remaining in the workforce.

These include:

• Health – individuals are healthier and living longer.

• Education – highly educated people work longer and our workforce is far better qualified than it was in 1990.

• Occupations – there are more and more clerical, non-manual jobs, that suit older workers.

• Financial – New Zealanders are concerned about their low level of savings and rising health costs, particularly health insurance.

• Rules and regulations – the removal of the mandatory retirement age in 1999 and the introduction of anti-discrimination rules as far as older workers are concerned.

• Family dynamics – a high percentage of women stay in the workforce until their husbands retire as do individuals, particularly women over 65, after a marriage breakup.

• Employer preferences – employers seem to have a liking for 65-plus-year-olds because this age group has a 1.6 per cent unemployment rate compared with 14 per cent for the 15 to 24 age group and 5.4 per cent for the total workforce.

But New Zealand Superannuation is one of the main reasons why such a high percentage of the population stay in the workforce after they reach 65 years of age.

NZ Super is relatively unique because it applies to everyone once they reach 65 years of age, is not subject to any income test or means test and is not contingent on retirement.

Thus, there is a strong incentive for individuals to stay in the workforce until they reach 65.

However, lowly paid workers are effectively incentivised to retire when they start receiving NZ Super because this represents a high percentage of their preretirement income.

Conversely, highly paid individuals have a strong incentive to stay in the workforce because NZ Super is neither income tested nor means tested and represents a much smaller per cent of their employment income.

In other words, NZ Super is an extremely effective culling system because it encourages unskilled workers to leave the workforce while enticing the highly skilled to stay.

In addition, most New Zealanders have the majority of their wealth tied up in residential property, which doesn’t generate income if it is the family home. Thus, they are incentivised to continue working because of the low level of income generated from their property-dominated investment portfolio.

What will be the long-term impact of KiwiSaver on the country’s workforce, particularly the number of 65-year-olds and over that will want to remain working?

Overseas studies show that individuals in a defined contribution superannuation scheme (a scheme where the outcome is unknown and is determined by investment returns) usually work longer than individuals who are in a defined benefit superannuation scheme (they received a fixed income every week or month regardless of investment returns).

As KiwiSaver is a defined contribution scheme it should not have a major impact on the willingness of our over 65s to continue working.

However, there is a strong argument that compulsory superannuation in Australia, which is also a defined contribution scheme, is encouraging our transtasman cousins to retire earlier because of the huge lump sums they have built up.

However, if employers here are willing to make a voluntary contribution to KiwiSaver schemes after their employees reach 65, it would be a huge incentive for New Zealanders to remain in the workforce.

Recent studies, particularly an AMP survey, indicate that a large percentage of KiwiSaver members want to use KiwiSaver to repay their mortgage and other borrowings. This suggests that KiwiSaver is not going to discourage the 65 years and over age group from remaining in the workforce.

There is no doubt that a greying workforce is a positive development for the New Zealand economy. This is because it helps retain our more highly skilled workers, it enables younger people to obtain additional education and it keeps the pressure off wage increases, inflation and interest rates.

However, one of the country’s main challenges is to raise our overall skills level, particularly in information technology where older workers have limited abilities.

It is depressing to note that 371,500 individuals, representing 16 per cent of the total workforce, have absolutely no formal qualifications, either school or post-school.

These individuals will find it increasingly difficult to find gainful employment in the modern economy.

Conversely, this gives the highly skilled 65-plus age group more and more opportunities to remain in the workforce.

Source: New Zealand Herald

Insurance and older Australians

Author: Susan Ryan

Susan Ryan, Age Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission, calls on insurers to design new, accessible and affordable products tailored to older Australians.

Whether they’re contributing to the workforce, volunteering their time, or travelling the world, older Australians are an active bunch and increasingly so. Yet all these activities may involve risk, and with risk comes the potential need for insurance.

In my role as Age Discrimination Commissioner, I hear many stories from older Australians who have had trouble securing affordable insurance or finding any suitable insurance product at all. A lack of insurance has limiting and negative effects for older Australians.

Income protection insurance often cuts out at age 65, yet many older Australians are capable and want to work well beyond that age.

It was announced in the recent budget that by 2035, Australians will not be eligible for the age pension until they turn 70, so working to that age will become the reality for many. Also, organisations that rely on volunteers buy group insurance, but it may not cover older volunteers. Travel insurance premiums increase with age, but it’s important that they are not so prohibitively high that older Australians would be tempted to travel uninsured.

Failing to provide insurance to older people or charging higher premiums is not necessarily unlawful discrimination. The Age Discrimination Act, which is the general protection that all people have against discrimination on the basis of age, has an exception for insurance. Insurers can discriminate based on age as long as the difference in treatment is based on actuarial or statistical data, or is otherwise reasonable.

Despite this exception, I have been making the case to the insurance industry that better, more accessible information about available insurance products should be provided. In addition, I can see a strong business case to be made to insurers to design new products that are tailored to seniors, and are accessible and affordable.

While the industry is considering these messages, the voice of older Australians who themselves are seeking a good deal on insurance products add to my advocacy. Older Australians can shop around for insurance and find the best product available to them.

Finally, if you think you have been discriminated against by an insurer, you are still able to make a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission, who can investigate and attempt to resolve your complaint.

You can get further information by calling 1300 656 419 or visit the Australian Human Rights Commission website.

Source: https://www.mynrma.com.au/living-well-navigator/work-volunteering-blogs/insurance-and-older-australians.htm

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