New England: Aging Workforce Threatens To Stall Economic Development

Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies has prepared a report showing that New England’s aging workforce could stall economic development and job growth in the future, particularly in Maine, which has the oldest population in the country. According to the report, which was released today as part of The New England Council’s Older Worker Initiative, all of the growth in the Maine labor force over the next decade will come from those aged 55 and older.

“We believe that New England is at a critical juncture. The aging population creates important challenges and significant opportunities for developing strategies to respond to these inevitable workforce changes. We need to develop specific proposals to encourage the active engagement of older workers in the employment market,” [James] McCaffrey [Mercer Human Resource Consulting’s New England Market Leader and member of the Council’s Board of Directors] said. “Retirement regulations – both on a state and federal level – often actually encourage workers to retire early and not return to the workforce. In New England, we could find a significant gap of available employees and skilled worker shortages that ultimately will hinder our ability to add jobs and grow.”

As part of the Initiative, business leaders will meet with public officials to discuss a variety of issues including: pension policies that limit workers’ ability to mix work and retirement income, workforce development programs that do not serve older workers, and the need for the workplace to accommodate an older workforce.

Source: New England Council Press Release (November 14, 2006)

Neurosurgeon Offers Medical Underpinning for Abandoning Retirement Concepts

Morris R. Beschloss interviewed neurosurgeon Dr. James Ausman regarding aging and its impact on America's employment for the Palm Springs (CA) Desert Sun and wrote that Ausman "some remarkable solutions to the inevitable calamity awaiting this country within the next decade." Among other things, Ausman suggests that Social Security Act and Medicare have fossilized into a status quo that had already proved antiquated decades ago. According to Beschloss's understanding of their conversation:

[Political cowardice] has further imposed a retirement psychosis encompassing millions of able-bodied retirees and companies employing them. Obviously, those ailing, sick or no longer able to carry on their chosen vocation should have the opportunity to vacate the working arena at the previously designated term of 65.

But with the galloping demand for professionals and practitioners of jobs that will go increasingly begging in the years ahead, today's archaic retirement programs engender an unacceptable waste.

Ausman calls this the abandonment of "the leading generation" and thinks it has been resigned to the wasteland of what could be indispensable contributions to the critical needs of America's foreseeable future. First, as people get older they get smarter, using both sides of the brain to facilitate accumulated information, which he calls the biological basis of wisdom. Second, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases can be delayed by being mentally and physically active.

Source: The Desert Sun "Talent drain could hit workforce" (November 12, 2006)

Generational Differences: Younger Workers Desire New Technologies

At the Federal Computer Week’s Government CIO Summit in San Diego, agencies were told that, as the federal government reaches out to young workers, they will have to adopt new technologies, such as instant messaging, and recognize their innovative uses in the workplace. As Matthew Weigelt writes, the "government’s workforce is aging and the majority is nearing retirement age," and in the years since they arrived in public service, technologies have progressed rapidly.

Cora Carmody, SAIC's executive chief information officer, said young employees often are taking a technological step backward when entering the workplace. They expect to find wireless devices in businesses, when some companies may not have them.

As another speaker said, agencies must consider how to make the most of those new technologies. "As the workforce grows younger, the employees will come in with the expectatiom of having familiar tools available."

Source: Federal Computer Week "Young workforce will affect technology in workplace" (November 7, 2006)

Survey: Kelly Global Workforce Index Reports on Ageism Around the World

Kelly Services has released results of the Kelly Global Workforce Index, a survey of over 70,000 workers in 28 countries about their experiences in workforce discrimination on account of age (both young and old). For example, in Australia, the Index reports that almost half of all Australians believe they have been discriminated against in applying for a job, with older Australians now facing the greatest prejudice. Specifically, 48% of workers aged 45 or older felt they had been discriminated against on the basis of their age. In India, age also was the major source of prejudice, cited by 16% of the respondents there.

According to Kelly Services Sales & Operations Director (New Zealand), Steve Kennedy,

“Ageism has overtaken ethnicity and sexism in many areas as the greatest source of discrimination in employment. At a time when we face an ageing population and skills shortages, many organisations are putting obstacles in the way of hiring older people. This can be devastating for individuals but it is also means many organisations are shutting off an important source of talent and diversity. Organisations that don’t address these issues directly can do themselves considerable damage and can suffer costs both direct and indirect. They may suffer high staff turnover, absenteeism, poor morale, low productivity, poor reputation, and also the possibility of civil claims and penalties arising from breach of anti discrimination laws.”

The Kelly Global Workforce Survey Results are available (with free registration).

Source: News Releases Australia (October 2006); Canada;
India (October 19, 2006): New Zealand (October 17, 2006); Spain (October 24, 2006); United Kingdom (October 24, 2006)

Arkansas Mature Workplace Initiative Encouraging Employers To Hire Older Workers

At a regional meeting focusing on the Arkansas Mature Worker Initiative, representatives from three local companies said older workers are key factors to daily operations. According to an article by Chandra Huston for the Baxter Bulletin, more and more "retirees" are heading back to the workforce.

Ranger Boats Human Resources Director Cheryl Davenport said 62 percent of the company's 850 employees are older than 45. She said mature workers are exactly what the business needs because of their experience.

In addition, Cameron Davis, store manager for Wal-Mart in Mountain Home, said d that people come to the area after retirement but realize they want to go back to work and, "Surprisingly, wages are not a big consideration for them. . . . "They just want to do something."

Source: Baxter Bulletin "Employers turn to mature workers" (November 2, 2006)

Other Sources: Arkansas Department of Worforce Services Arkansas Mature Workforce Initiative

Making the Workplace a Friendlier Place for all the Generations

According to Graham S. Toft, a senior fellow at Thomas P. Miller and Associates in Indianapolis, many older workers will choose to remain an active part of the work force. "I don't think we fully recognize how big an impact the baby-boom phenomenon will have on continuing to work--not on retirement," he is quoted as saying in an article by Julie Cope Saetre for The Indianapolis Star. "Toft said research is showing a noticeable change in the attitudes of workers 55 and older about working beyond the age of 65."

It's not a deliberate oversight, says Toft. Rather, the labor pool has been relatively plentiful and the concept of an aging work force has developed gradually.

"It's not something that dramatically impacts you in one year," he said. "It's a stealth phenomenon. We kind of accept it as it comes. We recognize in the workplace you can have three generations of workers now working in the same place. And that wasn't so 27 years ago. And it could be even four generations (if) people keep working into their 80s."

In the same article, Saetre also writes about Duke Energy's 4-year-old Senior Leader Program, through which Duke reaches out to its older employees by allowing them to work as independent contractors, or keeping them on the payroll on a part-time basis.

Source: Indianapolis Star "In age of an aging work force, wise employers keep door open" (November 1, 2006)

Industry News: Aging Workforce Hits Pest Control Advisers

The aging workforce is hitting another industry, this time suggesting that the "graying of America is on a collision course with the feeding of America." Harry Cline, writing in the Western Farm Press reports that members of the Western Plant Health Association heard recently that this network of state-licensed Pest Control Advisers--who monitor and recommend pest control measures--are mostly baby boomers facing retirement and that there are few young people now in the profession to replace them.

Terry Stark, executive director of the California Association of Pest Control Advisers, said a survey of CAPCA’s 3,100 members revealed that almost 40 percent of its members are over 55. Only 17 percent are 44 or younger. Thirty-five percent are 45 to 55.

Twenty-five percent of CAPCA members have more than 30 years experience. Over half have more than 20 years of experience.

While suggestions include promoting and rewarding teamwork and an open-door to management, emphasis was placed on college recruiting and introducing young people to California agriculture in high school and elementary schools.

Source: Western Farm Press "Pest control adviser workforce aging, dwindling" (October 31, 2006)

IT and the Generation War

Deborah Rothberg, writing for eWeek, reports that a new report by Forrester Research analyst Phil Murphy argues that the, by now, almost conventional wisdom--"The old guard is soon to retire, few want to join the new guard, and skilled workers are only getting harder to come by."--is both irresponsible and wrong.

In fact, the "recent sentiment among bloggers and pundits . . . that mature workers should get out of the way, as IT belongs to the twenty-somethings, is destructive--by fanning the flames of this underlying rift--and potentially illegal, if older workers are actually cast away on account of their age."

The report also eschews what it sees as a prevalent belief that old dogs cannot be taught new tricks, arguing that it is more likely that they haven't been given the opportunity to, as only a few organizations strive to enrich their older employees, "worried that they won't be around long enough to pay back their investment."

The full Forrester Research report is available for $249: "CIOs: Avoid War Between IT's Twentysomethings And More Mature Workers"

Source: eWeek Channel Insisder "Research: IT Generation Gap Overblown" (October 30, 2006)

New Zealand: Report Reveals Bias Against Older Workers

Research commissioned for the Human Rights Commission shows that 25-year-olds are six to twelve times more likely to be short listed than 55-year olds for human resource positions and six to ten times more likely to be short listed for sales positions.

The study--"Barriers to entry for the older worker"--carried out by Professor Marie Wilson of the University of Auckland Business School and graduate student Jordan Kan looked at barriers for entry into employment for older job applicants in three sectors--sales, HR administration, and nursing.

In discussions with potential employers during the research the key factor that differentiated older and younger employees was the assumed flexibility and adaptability of younger workers. The youngest applicants were described as "trainable", easy to "get up to speed" and "go-getters". Applicants aged 40 were described as "settled" and older applicants were described as "set in their ways".

One employer responded to three similar applicants differentiated by age only in the following way - he invited the youngest applicant in for a chat about whether he wanted to train for the post, the middle aged candidate was told his "experience was not relevant" and the 55 year old candidate was told his "qualifications didn't meet the requirements of the company" despite no qualifications being specified.

Source: New Zealand Human Rights Commission News Release (October 29, 2006)

Canada: Survey Finds Age Biggest Source of Discrimination in Hiring

A survey of Canadian employees conducted by Kelly Services has found that age has become the biggest source of prejudice. According to an article on the survey in The Globe and Mail, the survey found that 14.6% of respondents said they'd faced age discrimination when applying for a job, with that figure rising to 63.6% among those aged 55 and older.

The age discrimination result is troubling because there have been continuing efforts to ban it through legislation and human resources policies in workplaces, says Judy Cutler, director of government relations for Canada's Association for the 50-Plus (CARP).

The results show that attitudes have not caught up with the reality that Canada is facing a crisis as older workers leave the work force, and not enough younger workers are coming up through the ranks to replace them, she says.

Source: Globe and Mail "Ageism top bias in job hunt, poll finds" (October 25, 2006)

Survey: European Business Give Training Priority over Adapting Rewards to Older Workforce

According to a survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, 16% of European employers surveyed are planning to increase their investment in base salary rises in 2007, while 58% say they will spend more money on training and career development initiatives for their staff. Furthermore, just 11% of companies felt that adapting their employee rewards packages to meet the needs of an ageing workforce was an important challenge.

Mr [Peter] O'’Malley [Principal at Mercer] commented: "It is surprising that companies are not more concerned about adapting their rewards programmes to suit older workers. Many organisations rely heavily on the skills that their older, more experienced staff bring to the workplace, yet the rewards packages they offer do little to engage these employees."

Source: News Release (October 17, 2006)

United Kingdom: Conservative Party Leader Calls for Greater Attention to Older Workers

David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, called for a profound culture change in the way the United Kingdom population thinks about the elderly, backed by a revolution in social responsibility in the way we behave towards older people. Speaking at Age Concern meeting in London, he emphasised that retirement should be seen more as a gradual process:

Retirement used to be a luxury for a lucky few - a few brief years of inactivity between work and death. But now a long life after 65 is the norm. And yet we still hold on to the idea of retirement at 65. You work at full pelt right up to the wire--then you stop altogether. It doesn't make sense anymore. We need to see retirement as a process, not an event--a slope, not a cliff - then we will realise the potential of older people. Older people need to be able to shift gradually from full-time economic activity into other things.

Source: Conservative Party "Social responsibility and our ageing population" (October 23, 2006)

Related News: Politics.co.uk "Cameron bids for grey vote" (October 23, 2006)

Survey: Most Workers Consider Age Irrelevant at the Office,

According to a survey conducted by OfficeTeam, 84% of workers polled said they would be comfortable reporting to a manager who is younger than they are and 89% said they wouldn'’t mind supervising employees older than themselves.

"“For the first time in history, four generations of employees are in the workforce, from the Silent Generation and baby boomers to Generations X and Y,"” said Diane Domeyer, executive director of OfficeTeam. "“Companies recognize the benefits of having diverse, well-rounded teams, and employees may be just as likely to report to a younger supervisor as an older one. In either case, the boss'’s management abilities are more of a factor in employee job satisfaction than his or her age."”

Source: OfficeTeam Press Releae (October 5, 2006)

Related News: The Ithaca Journal "Businesses seek to bridge generation gaps in management" (October 20, 2006)

Survey: SHRM Finds Mixed Views on Older Workers

According to the results of a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) online poll, while older workers often are viewed as not keeping up with technology as well as other age groups in the workforce, HR professionals value the experience and mentoring they bring.

The value of older workers continues to rank high in some areas, the poll found, but the perceived advantages they bring ranked lower than three years ago. On the bright side, many of the disadvantages ranked lower than they did three years ago.

As for advantages of older workers, 71% of those surveyed recognized the "“invaluable experiences"” older workers bring to the workplace, 64% said older workers serve as mentors for those with less experience, 61% said older workers may be more willing to work part time or seasonally to fulfill labor-on-demand needs, and 60% said older workers were more reliable,

On the other side, where the numbers were much smaller (24% said there are no disadvantages), 49% said these employees do not keep up with technology, 38% said older workers cause expenses, such as health care costs, to rise, and 23% said older workers are less flexible than younger workers.

Source: SHRM Online "Will you desire 'em, will you admire '’em, when they'’re 64?" (October 16, 2006)

New Hampshire: Employers Unprepared for Aging Workforce

AARP New Hampshire has released a study showing that New Hampshire businesses are largely unprepared for the potential labor shortage and loss of institutional knowledge that will occur as the state'’s workforce ages. "Preparing for an Aging Workforce: A Focus on New Hampshire Employers" found that six in ten employers believe their business is likely to face a shortage of qualified workers in the next five years. However, only one in ten have taken steps to prepare for this shortage.

In addition to measuring the extent to which employers have implemented approaches to keep mature workers, the survey also examined the relative importance of employee qualities and the degree to which mature employees possess these qualities. The results show that most of the qualities the mature workers already possess are the top-rated qualities that businesses believe employees should have to meet the needs and culture of their organizations.

Source: AARP New Hampshire Press Release (October 13, 2006)

Related News: Manchester Union Leader "Value older workers, employers urged" (October 14, 2006) Reports on New Hampshire Forum on the Future session on the aging workforce.

Europe: European Commission Issues Communication on Aging Workforce

According to a Communication from the European Commission, Europe's ageing population is an unprecedented challenge for the whole of society, but it is a challenge to which Europe must rise to, and must rise to it now. "The demographic future of Europe --– from challenge to opportunity" stresses that this challenge underlines the ability of member states to meet the challenges of a shrinking workforce and an ageing population, and it suggests that the keys to success are the promotion of demographic renewal, more jobs and longer working lives, higher productivity, integrating migrants and sustainable public finances.

In particular, the Communication sets out five areas for concrete action to help states adapt to demographic change in their own national context:

• Helping people to balance work, family and private life so that potential parents can have the number of children they desire;
• Improving work opportunities for older people;
• Increasing potentially productivity and competitiveness by valuing the contributions of both older and younger employees;
• Harnessing the positive impact of migration for the job market
• Ensuring sustainable public finances to help guarantee social protection in the long-term.

According to Vladimír Špidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, "It is important that member states give a strong signal to businesses and citizens to change their expectations and attitudes, particularly in the labour market."

Source: Commission of the European Communities News Release (October 12, 2006)

Japan: Tripartite Committee Looking at Reemployment of Older Workers

Clement Mesenas, writing for TODAYOnline, reports that a tripartite team, comprising officials from the government and employer and employee groups in Japan is studying implementation of legislation to re-employ retired workers.

"We want to study the effects of legislation which was introduced in Japan in April--the hiccups, teething problems and all which have cropped up in the last six months," NTUC's director of industrial relations, Ms Joanne Cham Hui Fong, told Today in an exclusive interview.

The Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers, chaired by Minister of State for Manpower Gan Kim Yong, is expected to release a final report early in 2007.

If a re-employment scheme is introduced, it will apply to those 62 and above. Under current legislation, companies cannot retire someone at 60, but workers working until 62 do so with a wage cut of up to 10 per cent.

"The bigger issue we are dealing with today is how to promote the employment of older workers above 50 and the reemployment of retired workers beyond 62. Then we will have achieved the purpose of raising the effective retirement age," said Ms Cham.

Source: TodayOnline "Still a workforce to be reckoned with" (Octbober 16, 2006)

Multigenerational Workforce: An American Visits New Zealand

"What'’s happening today in New Zealand may very well be coming soon to a theater near you, if it hasn'’t already arrived," writes Tony DiRomualdo after speaking at and attending the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand Conference ("Living the Future Today") in September.

In his view, New Zealand is exacerbated by a shortage of workers throughout the country and "has no choice but to find creative ways to make its current workforce more productive, keep people in the workforce longer, and lure back people that have left." Thus, his interest, in particular, in one panel discussion with representatives of the four generations in the workplace--"a fascinating look at their different workplace perspectives and career aspirations."

Source: Wisconsin Technology Network "An upside down view of the future" (October 11, 2006)

Portugal: Pension Reforms Will Penalize Early Retirement

News reports indicate that Portuguese state pensions are to be indexed to the country's economic performance and average life expectancy under new pension and welfare reforms announced Tuesday. While the official retirement age is to stay at 65, any increases in the country's average life expectancy will trigger a reduction in the amount paid out so the entitlement can be spread over a longer period. In addition, anyone taking early retirement will have their pension cut by up to 6%.

According to the Associated Press report on the changes, "workers can choose to offset possible reductions by increasing the amount they pay into the social security system while still in employment or by working beyond 65." In addition, business confederations representing industry, agriculture, services and tourism that had initially balked at employing older workers agreed to the changes as the government warned that the alternative was higher corporate taxes.

Source: Business Week Online "Portugal pension system to be reformed" (October 10, 2006)

Australia: Government Announces Skills Program that Will Benefit Older Workers

According to press reports, Australian Prime Minister John Howard is announcing a skills package program that, among other things, will let less skilled older workers be eligible for a $3000 education voucher.

Source: Melbourne Herald Sun "$3000 vouchers to boost jobs" (October 12, 2006)