My friend, Patricia, has a problem. She is articulate, intelligent, immaculately dressed and groomed and holds a senior management position in a large organisation in which she has built a successful, high profile, career since the early 1990s. She represents the organisation overseas and interstate, is frequently called upon to fill in for her directors and has a wealth of corporate knowledge.
So where does her problem lie?
Pat’s problem is that she has reached “a certain age” and is no longer seen by her directors as promotion material, or able to take on challenging new tasks.
She’s discovered a brand new glass ceiling – Pat is a victim of ageism.
And she isn’t alone in her situation.
Older workers are good for business, delivering an average net benefit of $1,956 per year to their employer, compared to the rest of the workforce.
Negative stereotypes and assumptions of a ?use by date’ are significant barriers that older Australians, particularly women, face when they look for meaningful work.
While emphasis on the extension of working life has grown in most first world countries, Australia’s performance on the world stage is less than impressive in this area, particularly for women.
The Australian Human Rights Commission advises that employers assume older people to be lacking in enthusiasm and drive, inflexible and resistant to change, as well as possessing deteriorating physical and mental capabilities. With Australia’s workforce aging at a rapid rate and some industries facing skills shortages, buying into these stereotypes will increasingly come at a heavy cost to employers.
How will Australia’s changing workforce trends impact on SMEs?
The Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) says that the statistics are simple – and dramatic. Trends already in place indicate we will see the working age population grow by just 190,000 for the entire decade of the 2020s , a tenth of the current pace.
Smaller businesses stand to be hit the hardest by changes in the age profile of our national workforce and the subsequent shortages of labor with smaller budgets to recruit, train and employ staff they are at risk of falling behind their competitors unless new ways of attracting and retaining good staff are put in place now.
The good news:
But there is good news! There are around 4 million baby boomers who will be leaving the workforce in the next 20 years. ANTA advises that employers who can retain these competent people in the workforce longer should be better able to cope with the dramatic changes in the labor supply.
