The new flexible part-time agenda for an older workforce

Manpower Australia has produced a White Paper ‘The New Agenda for an Older Workforce’ which explores the increasing reality of the global ageing workforce, the resulting gaps in workforce supply, and the demand that this is creating.

It proposes strategies that companies can adopt to circumvent these talent challenges; recommendations on how employers can help older employees extend their careers should they choose to do so; and suggestions for the role that governments can play to help solve the older worker conundrum.

Mr Jeffrey A. Joerres, chairman and chief executive officer, of Manpower Inc, said that “the conundrum on the horizon is that the older employees who have the talent companies most need to retain are those who have the financial flexibility and employment options to retire or downshift to a more flexible work arrangement”.

“The best way to attract and retain older workers is to have jobs they want, and what they want is flexible, part-time jobs that interest them. It may be a few more years before employers determine how to effectively offer the part-time roles that mature adults would prefer,” Mr Joerres said.