AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES are often dissatisfied with young workers and place more value on skills and experience, according to recent research
AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES are often dissatisfied with young workers and place more value on skills and experience, according to recent research.
Conducted by the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association (RCSA), the research found that while skills shortages have prompted employers to consider an older workforce, it is not the only factor driving employers to hire older workers: recruiters reported their clients are increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of employees coming out of younger age groups.
However, recruiters’ clients were generally more concerned about the level of older workers’ work skills than recruiters, particularly regarding IT skills. The clients perceive the retraining of older workers to be difficult, a situation no doubt intensified by the view that older workers lack the drive to learn new skills.
Workplace change was also seen to be needed to support older workers including job design that is flexible and allows for older workers to do part time work, shorter shifts and enable phased retirement.
“The recruiters surveyed noted that clients value older workers very highly because they have good life experiences to apply to decision making, are good mentors for younger employees and have a good skills base. They also found older workers to be more stable employees with a lower rate of job turnover,”said Julie Mills, CEO of the RCSA.
“To improve the potential for older workers to secure employment, older workers need to take greater responsibility for their ongoing skills development and maintain a healthy attitude to be job-ready.”
To tap into the value of older workers, Mills said clients need to consider developing mentoring programs so older workers can pass their skills and experience onto younger workers.
The survey also found almost two-thirds of recruiters experience barriers or hesitation in placing older workers from clients, and 60 per cent respond to these barriers by matching an applicant’s skills with the skills required for a position. Furthermore, exactly two-thirds of recruiters felt that their clients were now becoming more receptive to hiring older workers.
There was also a view that older workers need to change their attitude if they are going to successfully compete for and retain employment. Some are reluctant to approach recruiters because they don’t see value in their skills and experience. Others lack emotional intelligence and are unwilling to adapt to a changed workforce.
“Recruiters suggest older workers be counselled about the realities of the workplace and functions such as career management and outplacement services be made available to them to assist develop their capacity,” said Mills.
“Older workers’ confidence may need to be rebuilt and initiatives introduced to assist in job search so they are better linked to the recruitment process.”
In the qualitative study of recruitment managers from 50 small, medium and large employee service companies across Australia, a mature aged employee was defined by the majority of respondents as one aged over 50.
Recruiters identified a range of industries with manufacturing (16.1 per cent), government and defence (19.4 per cent) and property and business services (12.9 per cent) being the top three industries willing to hire older workers.
A number of sectors were also seen as becoming more accessible in the future. These were manufacturing (20.8 per cent), service sector employments including property and business services (18.8 per cent), finance and insurance (12.5 per cent) and retail (10.4 per cent).
The industries recruiters believed would be less accessible to older workers included aspects of the property and business services industry (22.9 per cent). Technology areas, including IT, were reluctant to hire older workers, as was the retail trade (20.8 per cent).
