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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

United Kingdom: Guide Published for Employing Older Workers

The United Kingdom's Department for Work and Pensions has published a guide for employers on today’s multi-generational workforce. "Employing Older Workers. An employer’s guide to today’s multi-generational workforce" is drawn from from employers who report clear business benefits from
effectively managing an ageing multi-generational workforce and provides answers to employer questions and offers non-bureaucratic solutions tried and tested by employers of various sectors and sizes.
It also addresses misconceptions about employing older workers concerning productivity, up-skilling, health and ‘blocking’ opportunities for younger workers. Many successful employers report the benefits of employing older workers as part of a multi-generational workforce include:
  • a broader range of skills and experience;
  • opportunities for mentoring new recruits;
  • transfer of skills across the workforce;
  • reduced staff turnover; and
  • improved staff morale.
Source: TAEN News Release (February 19, 2013)

Monday, February 18, 2013

AARP Starts Releasing Snapshots of 2013 Multicultural Work and Career Study

AARP has announced that it is completing work on its 2013 Multicultural Work and Career Study. Following up on studies performed in 2002 and in 2007, the report will provide an in-depth look at workers ages 45-74: their reasons for working, perceived job security, differential treatment received because of age, their ideal work scenario, the challenges they face, their plans for retirement, and more. In advance of the full report AARP has released its first snapshot, looking at African Americans.

According to the snapshot, a large number of older African-Americans are anxious about continuing weaknesses in the economy and small businesses in which they are involved. Among other things, the study reports that approximately 24% of these workers have lost a job in the past five years, financial motives--money (96%) and saving for retirement (92%)--are the top reasons for working (although 91% also report enjoying their job), and 57%have been in the same job for at least five years.

Source: AARP Surveys and Statistics (February 2013)

Sunday, February 03, 2013

Survey: Conference Board Reports U.S. Workers Increasingly Delaying Retirement

According to a new study by the Conference Board, more U.S. workers than ever are planning to delay retirement. Specifically, the Executive Action Report "Trapped on the Worker Treadmill?" shows that, in 2012, 62% of 45- to 60-year-olds reported at least a 20% decline in the value of their financial assets since the start of the crisis (up from 42% in 2010), and that this has led to a 21-percentage-point increase in plans to delay retirement between 2010 and 2012.
“It’s disconcerting that the two years in which the U.S. economy seemed to finally, if fitfully, turn the corner also left so many more workers compelled to change their retirement plans late in their careers,” said Gad Levanon, Director of Macroeconomic Research at The Conference Board and a co-author of the report. “This may benefit some businesses and industries, by reducing labor shortages and skill gaps as experienced workers stick around. At the same time, their delaying retirement can be a significant obstacle to the many companies seeking to cut costs. Mapping out the implications of the trend for individual firms and the economy as a whole means first understanding the drivers behind workers’ retirement decisions.”
According to the report, workers aged 45–60 who’ve experienced a job loss, salary cut, or significant decline in home price are much more likely to have plans for delaying retirement, and the proportion of respondents reporting each of those three misfortunes rose between 2010 and 2012. However, this only explains about half the increase in delayed retirement plans. The remainder, according to the report, reflects larger and longer-term economic and sociological factors, such as shift from defined benefit to defined contribution plans, lower interest rates on savings, better health and longevity, and increasing scarcity of post-retirement health benefits.

Sources: The Conference Board Press Release (February 1, 2013); Human Capital Exchange Blog (February 1, 2013)