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Mature Workers: 2. Myths and facts around older workers

Mature Workers:

2. Myths and facts around older
workers

Negative stereotypes and assumptions of a ‘use by date’ are
significant barriers that older Australians face when they look for meaningful
work.

With Australia’s workforce ageing at a rapid rate and some industries
facing skills shortages, buying into these stereotypes will increasingly come at
a heavy cost to employers.

That’s why it’s so important to separate the myths from the
facts.


MYTH 1: Mature age workers will cost the business more for their
experience.

FACT: Mature age employees can save costs to employers through
increased rates of retention.

  • Workers aged over 55 are five times less likely to change jobs
    compared with workers aged 20-24, reducing ongoing recruitment and training
    costs.[1]
  • Mature workers deliver an average net benefit of $1,956 per year to their
    employer compared to the rest of the workforce - a result of increased
    retention, lower rates of absenteeism, decreased costs of recruitment and
    greater investment returns on
    training.[2]

FACT: Retention of mature age workers can help maintain
corporate memory and save employers the cost of ‘re-inventing the
wheel’.[3]


FACT: There is a strategic business advantage of having employees who
reflect the diversity of the customer base as the Australian population
ages.[4]




MYTH 2: Mature age workers may be prone to health problems.

FACT: Australians are living longer and are healthier.

  • ABS reports show that the current life expectancy is 78 years for men and 83
    years for women – a two and three year increase respectively since
    1994.[5]
  • A 2005 ABS survey found the proportion of Australians aged 55-64 reporting
    their health as ‘good’, ‘very good’ or
    ‘excellent’ was 75.5% – an increase of four per cent since
    1995.[6]

FACT: Mature age workers are less likely to take sick leave
and experience work related injuries.

  • A 2006 ABS survey found that mature workers were the least likely group to
    take days off due to their own illness or as a carer. In the two week period
    prior to the survey nearly half the number of mature workers had days off
    compared to workers aged 25-34.[7]
  • ABS data indicates that mature age workers are less likely to experience
    work-related injuries compared to younger
    workers.[8]


MYTH 3: There is no long term benefit to training and developing mature
age workers.

FACT: Australia’s ageing population means business will need to
invest in mature age employees.

  • Based on current trends the working age population will grow by just 125,000
    for the entire decade from 2020 to 2029 – less than a tenth of
    current pace    .
  • Research of OECD countries shows that those countries that provide a higher
    level of training to older workers have workers leaving the labour market at an
    older age.[9]


MYTH 4: Younger workers are better performers than mature age
workers.

FACT: Experience is a better indicator of productivity than
age.

  • A study of OECD nations concluded that verbal skills, communication and
    intelligence remain unchanged as a person
    ages.[10]


MYTH 5: Mature age workers won’t be able to adapt to changes and
new technology.

FACT: Older people are the fastest growing users of
technology.

  • ABS data shows that Australians aged 55-64 are the fastest growing users of
    information technology.[11]

FACT: Older people can be trained to use new
technologies.

  • International studies indicate that appropriate training provided in a
    supportive environment can greatly assist older workers to learn new technology
    systems.[12]
  • A survey of employers showed they were more likely to recruit someone with
    direct experience in the industry but with limited computing skills compared to
    a person who is good with computers but has no industry
    experience.[13]

[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics
(2006) Labour Mobility Survey, Cat. No.
6209.0.

[2] Business, Work and
Ageing (2000) Profiting from Maturity: The Social and Economic Costs of Mature
Age Unemployment.

[3] Australian
Government, Department of Health and Aged Care (2001) Population Ageing in
the Australian Economy, Access
Economics.

[4] ibid

[5] Australian Bureau of
Statistics, (2006) Measures of Australia's Progress, Cat. No.
1370.0.

[6] Australian Bureau of
Statistics (2006) National Health Survey: Summary of Results, 2004-05 Cat. No. 4364.0.

[7] ibid

[8]Australian Bureau of
Statistics (2006) Work-Related Injuries, Australia, Cat. No.
6324.0.

[9] Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development (2006) Live Longer Work Longer, OECD
Publishing, http://213.253.134.43/oecd/pdfs/browseit/8105111E.PDF,
accessed 27 August 2007.

[10] Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2006) Live Longer Work
Longer, OECD Publishing, http://213.253.134.43/oecd/pdfs/browseit/8105111E.PDF,
accessed 27 August 2007.

[11] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2005) Year Book Australia, Cat. No.
1301.0.

[12] Research and Policy
Committee of Committee for Economic Development (1999) New Opportunities for
Older Workers

[13] Bittman,
M., Flick, M., & Rice, J. (2001) The recruitment of older Australian
workers – A survey of employers in high growth industry, Social Policy
Research Centre, University of NSW.