Australia: Chambers of Commerce Endorse Government Promotion of Mature Age Employment and Apprenticeships

The Tasmanian (TCCI) and Australian (ACCI) Chambers of Commerce and Industry have congratulated the Australian government for its promotion of mature age employment participation. As noted by ACCI Chief Executive, Peter Anderson: "Australian employers need to develop innovative strategies to attract and retain valued employees to meet the vital skills needs of their business now and into the future."

The government endorsement follows the issuance of an ACCI research project--"It's Not About Age"--which focuses on building positive employment and training outcomes for employers and mature age apprentices to ensure that the Australian business community has access to a highly skilled and motivated workforce.

Separately, TCCI Chief economist Mark Bowles said hiring mature-aged workers was both a solution to Tasmania's skills shortage and inevitable because of our ageing population. According to Bowles, figures from the ACCI estimated 85% of workforce growth in the next decade would be for workers over 45, and he thought that figure could even be higher for Tasmania

Sources: Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Media Release (March 30, 2011); Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Media Release (March 30, 2011); The Mercury "Older worker championed" (April 19, 2011)

See also links to Australian resources.

United Kingdom: Rise in "Silver" Apprenticeships

Belying the stereotype that people in later life are reluctant to learn new skills, statistics obtained from the Skills Funding Agency by Age UK and The Age and Employment Network (TAEN) show that the number of people aged 50-plus enrolled in apprenticeship programs has grown to a record number of over 5,000 "silver" apprentices, including over 400 people in their 60s and 13 in their 70s, with the oldest apprentice in the United Kingdom being aged 76.

Research by the former Learning and Skills Council shows most 25-plus workers use apprenticeships to develop their skills under their current employers (50%) or move on to a new job (33%). While no similar figures are available for 50-plus workers, the steep rise in the number of apprentices in this age group during the recession suggests that some 50-plus workers may have opted for apprenticeships to elude unemployment.

This growth was first noted among the 25-plus apprentices which rocketed in 2007-2008 from just 300 to 27,200 after the Government started funding apprenticeships for this age group. Prior to then, only a handful of apprentices over the age of 50 enrolled in early pilot schemes.

Sources: AgeUK News Release (October 6, 2010); Daily Telegraph "Recession sees rise of the 'silver' apprentice" (October 7, 2010)

United Kingdom: TUC Debates Accessibility to Training for Older Workers

In a web-based debate, TUC assistant general secretary Kay Carberry told her audience that "We need to look at the upper age limit for funding apprenticeships, because most apprenticeship funding at the moment is largely limited to people under 25." Instead of taking the "mistaken" view that once you’ve been around for a few decades that’s it, Carberry said that the priorities were to scrutinise everything that happens in the workplace to make sure that it ‘s free of age discrimination and to train older workers--give them more opportunities than they’ve got now.

Carberry was participating in a live tele-cast debate sponsored by Equal-works on the topic of "The value of experience: older workers, their importance and their rights".

Some employers felt it wasn’t worth investing in training older workers because they weren’t going to be around that long. This was a misconception, she said. It was also wrong to think "that older workers aren’t going to be susceptible to learning new skills because they ‘re getting a bit doddery and they’re getting a bit slow.

"I think there are a lot of people who have worked in one particular field, who get into their late 50’ s early 60’s, don’t want to carry on doing that particular kind of work but would welcome the opportunity to do something a little bit different and quite often they don’t get that opportunity maybe with the same employer, maybe voluntary work.

"What the unions are concerned about is that older workers or workers in other age ranges are not viewed as an undifferentiated lump. We would like to see public policy more finely attuned to individuals needs."

Source: Further Education News "TUC Asst Gen Sec: End discrimination against older workers and open up training to them" (August 11, 2007)