Few employers moving to recruit and retain older workers
Just 17% of employers in Australia have strategies in place to recruit older workers and only 29% have implemented retention strategies to keep them participating in the workforce, as shown in a recent survey carried out by Manpower Australia.
Scott Mclachlan, managing director of Manpower Australia and New Zealand, said that many employers were not considering the percentage of their workforce that was set to retire in the next five to 10 years and the potential loss of productive and intellectual capital that would occur when those people left their company.
“In Australia we have 26% of our current workers already over the age of 50 so the short-term impact is critical. If employers don’t act soon they will fail to win the war for talent, as older adults will be relied upon as one of the most important sources of talent for the future workforce,” he said.
A global survey of 28,000 employers across 25 countries and territories, found that employers in Japan and Singapore were far ahead of their international counterparts with 83 and 53 percent of employers respectively, working proactively to retain their older employees. Conversely, in both Italy and Spain far fewer employers – six percent- have such strategies in place.
In 19 of the 25 countries where employers were surveyed, retention strategies were more prevalent than recruiting strategies for older workers. This appears to be due to the fact that many of these countries have government legislation or programs in place to encourage employers to retain older workers.
According to the OECD, 12 million people a year will be exiting the global workforce, between 2025 and 2030.
Mr Mclachlan said that “employers can no longer ignore the demographic forecasts and evidence of growing talent shortages. The risk of negative impact on productivity and the company knowledge base is so great that employers may not be able to avoid it unless they take proactive measures to engage the older workforce.”
