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Archive for category Research

Global issues and updates

Posted by Alison in Commentary, Research on May 22nd, 2011

Ageing Workforce News is a website you may wish to take a look at to stay informed on what is happening here and around the Globe.  You can also subscribe for a monthly email update.

We hope you find this useful in keeping updated on global ageing workforce issues!

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Bring down the barricades

Posted by Alison in Research on March 4th, 2011

In January the Productivity Commission released a working paper focusing on the labour force participation of women over 45.

A few key points arising from the paper;

  • there has been quite a significant increase over the past three decades in ‘contribution to total hours worked’, rising from 6% in 1979 to 15% in 2009
  • labour force participation rates for women 45-54 are currently 78% but decline significantly over 55, with women still retiring earlier than men (at 58 years compared to 61.5)
  • a woman’s health, care giving responsibility and access to flexible working hours are the major factors in determining workforce participation
  • half of women working full time want to work less hours and one quarter working part time want to increase hours
  • an acknowledgement that barriers to participation are significant and not easy to address

Around 7% of mature women (200 000 potential employees!) could be attracted back into the labour force…if we bring down the barricades and support care givers, create opportunities to work longer (but differently) and promote health and wellbeing.

There is much ado about gender diversity in the workforce with the new ASX reporting guidelines. But an opportunity exists to go one step further. Employers can view gender through the life course lens and take active steps to embrace women over 45. Those who do will attract enthusiasm, experience and empathy.

All qualities that customers love…

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who’s retiring when?

Posted by Catriona in Research on November 25th, 2010

New research from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and ANU provides more of a breakdown of who’s retiring when – according to the type of workers who remained in the workforce beyond the retirement age of 65 in the past 10 years. As reported in the Australian, there are two distinct groups who are ignoring the retirement age and remaining in the workforce; the most educated and the least educated.

Why the most educated?

  • they enjoy work and the social interaction
  • attractive employment conditions
  • they need to recoup an investment in education

Why the least educated?

  • the financial considerations of cash flow
  • less accumulated wealth
  • limited access to good retirement arrangements with super

We’re with Chris Ryan – author of the research:

I think there are positive things about keeping experienced, capable people working longer. I think there will be more people working at 70 than there are now, but they will have more choices with superannuation and pay more attention to their financial position as they age.

Organisations who actively support their employees in late career will benefit.

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Why baby boomers won’t quit working

Posted by Catriona in Commentary, Research on August 2nd, 2010

Part of our ageing workforce

Ageing workforce

The weekend Financial Review’s 31 July 1 August excellent article by Deirdre Macken  provides an up to date snapshot of how our workforce is changing. You need to subscribe to get the full article, but in the meantime, here are seven stats to have up your sleeve:

  1. In the past three years, almost 100 000 extra older workers have entered the workforce annually
  2. Ten years ago only a third of people aged 60 – 64 were working; now more than half of the 60 – 64 population are working
  3. Three years ago, one in seven workers were older than 55; now it’s one in six.
  4. 40 percent of all the new workers in the past three years are 55 or older
  5. Since June 2007 the only age groups that convincingly increased their participation in the workforce were those over 55
  6. The number of workers aged 65 plus jumped 30 %compared with the population increase in that age group of 8.5 %
  7. The biggest increase in workers across the country is among women older than 65

As Barbara Pocock says:

Compared with 20 years ago, there is a lot more identity-making and meaning-making that has been attached to work. Even people’s friendships are more likely to be based at work than in previous generations.”

What’s all this mean? An ageing workforce means that organisations need to re-think the way we work and what a career life cycle is. The mantra we often hear: “Happy to work longer, but not the way I’m working now.” Let’s make our work association enjoyable, social, meaningful and supportive of other facets of our lives. Now that’s something no generation will argue with.

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What would influence your decision to work longer?

Posted by Catriona in Research on June 17th, 2010

Ageing workforce specialists SageCo recently asked more than 300 mature employees, “What would influence your decision to work longer?” More than 60 percent said that the opportunity to work the same role but on a more flexible basis would be a reason to stay. In the same vein, over half said that working in a similar role but with reduced hours and less responsibility would see them working beyond the traditional retirement date.

“The trick to the age management puzzle is slowing the rate of retirement” says SageCo MD, Alison Monroe. “Use your workforce planning data to determine the risk of not only how many you are losing, but also who you are losing.”

Extending the working life of our baby boomer generation is a key strategy for ensuring a future workforce. By 2016 we have more people leaving the workforce than entering it;  something has to shift. But how?

The results of this survey suggest that managers and HR professionals need to build a high level of competency in redesigning roles, applying flexible work arrangements and dealing with the more granular tasks of remuneration and superannuation.

While flexible work opportunities were the clear winner here, respondents showed strong support for an organisation’s alumni program to provide contracting opportunities and the means to contribute knowledge to special projects.

“SageCo sees a strong argument for the reinvention of the alumni model.” says Catriona Byrne, SageCo Director and Product Development Lead. “Up till now, most alumni programs simply provide a means for past employees to keep in touch annually.

We are having early discussions with a few progressive organisations who have tapped into the opportunity of using their alumni program as a way to resource the future. The new alumni model is a living, breathing knowledge database and a talent pool of experienced, contingent employees who can hit the ground running.”

None of these interventions will make a difference unless organisations have a baseline of good people management. However, it is clear that new practices must be put in place to influence retiring employees.

“The results also indicate that organisations need to actively support late career employees in their decisions about work and retirement.” suggests Alison Monroe “The mindset shift required by employees and employers alike won’t happen left to chance.”

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