The Definition
A mature age worker is 45 or over for redundancy purposes. Though most people consider the age to be over 50.
Quietly Hiring
Organisations are quietly hiring mature age people. Although this has been brought about recently through necessity, companies are discovering what the research suggest that mature workers have great assets including:
- Less likely to change jobs.
- Less likely to call in sick.
- Strong work ethic.
- Good mentors
Organisations are also realising that most people in white collar jobs particularly are computer literate and have worked on computer systems most of their working life.
The Myth
People over 50 are not as computer literate as they need to be is mostly incorrect. Most White-collar workers of this age group have been working with technology for years and are able to adapt.
Unretiring after Covid
Many mature age workers retired and now are “Unretiring” after covid according to the research.
Some of the reasons are they,
- Miss social connection
- Need a sense of belonging and purpose.
- Want to make a meaningful contribution.
For those on pensions this has been made easier by the government increasing the amount of money pensioners can earn before their pension is decreased. It has gone up by $4,000 from $7,800 to $11,800.
Changing economic times
There are growing concerns from parts of the population that what they thought was going to be enough may no longer be sufficient. This anxiety within the community has been growing with the increase in inflation and the growing economic headwinds.
The increase of the Grey Divorce.
- This is defined as people divorcing or separating 50 years and older.
- This can be financially devastating especially for women.
- Older women who experience divorce see their standard of living decline by 45%.
- This is less severe for men whose standard of living declines by 21% according to the National Centre for Family and Marriage Research.
Grey divorces have doubled since the 1990’s. In America Grey divorces represent 25% of all divorces.
There is a lot of speculation for the reasons why and these include:
- It is more socially acceptable.
- More mainstream for men to leave relationships with younger women as highlighted by high profile personalities.
- The focus on children rather than the primary relationship between husband and wife reduces common interests when the children leave home etc.
- Living longer
The impact is that people who would normally be financially secure at this time in their lives need to seek other income and are re-entering the workforce. Ageism, although very real has in some fields been suspended due to the need for workers.
The Grey Divorce also has many social impacts as well:
- Women over 55 are at great risk of financial and housing insecurity due to systemic and compounding factors such as: Lack of superannuation. Working part time or casually throughout their lives. Taking time out of the workforce to care for family.
- For men one of the most concerning social impacts is social loneliness.
- For both social and financial reasons many of this group want to continue or re-engage in the workforce.
Summary
The smart organisations are realising that this demographic is and can be an asset rather than a liability to them.
There is no better time for to put aside ageism when the need for employees is at an all-time high.
