Older workers failing to plan their careers
Nearly four out of five older workers say they have either never – or not recently – planned their careers and that they did not need to do so, a new report shows.
Unlike school leavers and university graduates, most mature age workers do not invest the time and energy they need to progress their careers, finds the National Seniors Productive Ageing Centre report Prevalence of Career Planning Among Mature Age Australians.
The average age of workers in the aged and community care sector is reportedly 'older' than the overall Australian workforce in other industries.
“Instead of continuously updating their skills, the research suggests the over-50s are reacting only at crisis points, such as job loss or ill health,” says Michael O’Neill, National Seniors chief executive.
“But planning is vital for broadening work options, improving salary and extending working lives,” he says.
“When older workers find themselves out of a job, particularly in a declining industry, a career change or training could save them from the dole queue or reduce their time on the queue.”
The report, based on 1,873 survey responses, shows of those who had worked in the past five years, 78% had not recently or had never undertaken career planning. Other findings include:
- Only 34% of those surveyed said career planning was ‘very’ or ‘somewhat important’ to their quality of life as they aged; half said it was not important.
- 78% of people who had worked in the past five years said they had not recently sought information on career planning; of those who did, 46% said the information had been hard to find.
- 28% felt they did not need to undertake paid or unpaid work, 18% believed career planning would not help them; 14% said career planning was not important.
- The most common motivation for recently undertaking career planning was to seek advice on preparing for transitioning to retirement (30%).
“Older workers often focus on their retirement finances, housing and health,” Mr O’Neill says.
“So, knowing how to seek information, map out a new career, start a business or update skills may be just as important in case their retirement plans go awry.”
ABS data shows that in 2014, job seekers aged 55 years and older were out of work for an average of 72 weeks, compared with an average of only 40 weeks for people aged 15-54.
Find out more about the National Seniors Productive Ageing Centre.
