A report released yesterday entitled Realising the economic potential of senior Australians notes that the percentage of Australians aged over 55 is expected to rise to nearly 20% by 2050, up from 16% nowadays.
"While participation rates for people over 55 have risen significantly, barriers still inhibit older workers' participation," the report, written by the Panel on the Economic Potential of Senior Australians, says.
"These barriers directly affect the living standards of Australians, with the cost of not using the skills and experience of older Australians already at an estimated $10.8 billion a year."
"These barriers also directly affect the ability of individuals to contribute, with two million older Australians outside the workforce wanting to work, some because of financial necessity."
But the report - written by National Seniors Australia chair Everald Compton, former deputy Prime Minister Brian Howe, and Professor Gill Lewin - says the country's shift to a knowledge-edge based company, from a manual-based society, leaves Australians better placed to work longer.
"This move away from physically demanding work opens up more opportunities for older workers. It coincides with a looming skills shortage in key industries (mining, construction and services), increasing the opportunity for older workers to retrain for new careers or to backfill in sectors depleted by the movement of more mobile workers," the report says.
It also praises the increase in the retirement age to 67 and the removal of the age limit on superannuation guarantees as developments likely to keep older workers in paid work – although this shift requires support from industry, employers and governments.
The report recommends:
- Extending flexible work arrangements for people aged 55 and over, allowing this group great time for volunteering and babysitting commitments, for example.
- Looking at the affordability of income protection for people over 60.
- Appointing a cabinet minister for maximising the potential of the ageing population.
- Increasing housing supply by removing stamp duty.
- Reviewing planning regulations and removing regulatory impediments to new developments and promote greater mobility.
- Reviewing how income payments affect seniors' housing decisions.
- Get governments to embed age diversity within workforce.
Speaking on the prospect of abolishing stamp duty after the report was released, Treasurer Wayne Swan said he was meeting with state treasurers to discuss state taxes.
"If there are impediments in the tax and transfer system that stop older Australians from contributing to the labour force, we should do something about that," Swan added.
He also called on business to "recruit many of those greying Australians who are looking for a job but have had difficulty getting one."
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written by Leon63, December 13, 2011
We have tried to get new employment but have failed. We know it is because of our ages, but of course employers dare not admit to that!
AS an ex training manager I arrived at the conclusion that a lot of "generation Y" considered work as an interruption to their social life - there was no clear delineation between work and play!
written by rrakausk, December 13, 2011
I have heard of older blokes getting easy mining jobs as safety trainers and drivers, but in the end you have to be willing to get into the FIFO mindset. And make a nuisance of yourself until they give in. Takes stamina and lots of rejection but if you are on the spot in an out of the way place they eventually give you a job.
In the end I think the only way forward for us "oldies" (I hate that term) is self employment in the services sector. In other words gain a skill in demand on a computer, sell your services to start with on Elance, Rentacoder and other online sites, and go from there. The whole world becomes your oyster then.
I trained in SEO and now have a permanent contract with a Californian company (I live on the GoldCoast) with plenty of upside potential. Took me a couple of years to get here, but they could care less about my age - what I do for them and the results they get is what's important.
Forget a "real" job. They are irrelevant in an online connected world.
Employers don't want older workers, never did and never will. Unless there is solid, mandated legislation with significant penalties, to make companies employ older workers, it just won't happen.
I am buggered if I can see why we are so despised. When I look around at companies and businesses these days, half the staff are wasting time and money on Facebook, out the back smoking or just wandering round the office chatting. I know people who have a fortune in office stationery and equipment sitting in their home, and others who just boast about how they get paid for doing bugger all every day. Meanwhile, these companies wonder why they are going down the pan. Management in many cases is just totally out of touch with reality.
I reckon I could walk into any office or business in Australia today and instantly start saving them massive amounts of money just by reorganising the place, cutting waste and putting processes in place.
But I am 61 years old so that puts me out of the frame. Probably just as well though, there were be riots when I took away the fancy pens and stationery and replaced it basic utilitarian stuff and gave people designated tasks to do and complete in a specific timeframe, etc etc!