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Older workers can be a boon to business, so what is holding firms back?

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Summary

This article discusses the potential benefits businesses can gain from hiring older workers, and how employers can make their recruitment processes more inclusive and welcoming to older candidates. Research has shown that a firm with a higher share of older employees is more productive, and there are currently 200,000 more older people out of work due to the Covid pandemic. However, more than a third of people aged 50-69 feel they would be at a disadvantage in applying for jobs. To make job adverts more inclusive, employers should offer part-time working by default, emphasize the benefits of working for the company, remove biased language, include flexible working options, and signal workplace adjustments. The Centre for Ageing Better has released a new toolkit to help employers reduce age bias in their recruitment processes.

Q&As

How can employers benefit from hiring older workers?
Employers can benefit from hiring older workers by having lower job turnover and greater management and general work experience.

What challenges do older applicants face when looking for work?
Older applicants face inequity at every stage of the recruitment process, from the language in job adverts to how interview panels are conducted.

How can employers create more inclusive job adverts?
Employers can create more inclusive job adverts by offering part time/job share by default, emphasizing benefits they offer, removing biased language, including flexible working options, and signaling workplace adjustments.

What language should employers use to make job adverts more inclusive?
Employers should use age-inclusive language, replacing terms such as ‘innovative’, ‘technologically savvy’ and ‘recent graduate’ with specific behaviours and skills required for the job.

What workplace adjustments can employers make to support older workers?
Employers can make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, such as providing equipment or supporting scheduled breaks, to enable people to manage health conditions or caring responsibilities.

AI Comments

👍 This article provides a great insight into how employers can attract more older workers and benefit from their experience. The toolkit provided is an incredibly helpful resource for companies to create more inclusive job adverts and reduce age bias.

👎 Despite the article's intentions, it does not offer any concrete solutions to the challenges older workers face in the recruitment process.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about how companies should be taking on more people aged 50-69 and how they can benefit from the experience and lower job turnover of older workers. It also outlines a toolkit to help reduce age bias in the recruitment process.

Friend: That's really interesting! It's great to see that older workers are being taken into account and that employers are being encouraged to be more inclusive. It's definitely a step in the right direction.

Me: Absolutely. This article could have some significant implications for the way businesses operate. It could mean that businesses are more likely to hire older workers and that they will be more likely to offer flexible working and other benefits to appeal to a wider range of applicants. This could be a huge help for people who have been out of the workforce for a while, as well as those looking for a new job.

Action items

Review job adverts to ensure they are age-inclusive and highlight any flexible working options.
Ensure interview panels are diverse and free from age bias.
Utilize the Centre for Ageing Better's free tools to reduce age bias in recruitment processes.

Technical terms

Productivity gains: Increases in efficiency and output resulting from improved processes or methods.
Job turnover: The rate at which employees leave and are replaced in a business.
Economically inactive: People who are not in the labor force, such as those who are retired, students, or stay-at-home parents.
Age bias: Prejudice or discrimination against people of a certain age.
Job adverts: A public announcement of a job opening.
Job description: A document that outlines the duties, responsibilities, and requirements of a job.
Flexible working: Working arrangements that allow employees to work outside of traditional office hours or locations.
Reasonable adjustments: Changes to the workplace or job duties that are necessary to accommodate an employee's disability or other special needs.