Older male workers sticking with jobs

The long-running trend in Australia to early retirement is now reversing with a sharp increase in the number of older workers staying on in their jobs. For more than 25 years
there was a decrease in older men in the workforce but that has changed since 2000.

Now participation by men aged 55 to 64 has gone from below 61 % in 2000 to more than 66% today. Baby boomers started entering the 55 to 64 age bracket in 2000 and the rise has been caused by men staying on in fulltime jobs.

With Australian women, by contrast, there has been a continuing increase over the past two decades for women aged 55 to 64 to stay in or return to the workforce with the participation rate rising from 20% in 1985 to about 45% today. The major increase has occurred in the past five years with a 9% jump in that time.

Fairfax senior writer Ross Gittins noted that “when you put the women together with the men you find a surprising thing: the rate of labour force participation among older people is now at the highest on record”. Gittins wrote that a key explanation appeared to be the long and strong expansion of the economy since the last recession in the 90s.

“Employers have needed to retain their workers and, in general, have had little reason to be laying people off. We’ve all heard employers complaining of growing shortages of skilled labour. Obviously recent years have not been the time when a smart employer dreams of getting rid of his most experienced workers”, Ross Gittins commented.