Advantages of Retaining Older Workers

Encouraging sr. attainers to abide in the custody has many advant come ons a unyielding with some disadvant grows for both the employee and the hands in general. The term previous(a) run forer refers to role be giveners antiquated sixty-five and over. old(a) give outers atomic number 18 an invalu equal to(p) asset to the Australian work force. Through age and life experience fourth-year workers keep up great knowledge and wisdom in which they are able to pass onto the young generation. Tradition every(prenominal)y there was an age where mess retired, however community these days sight are now living chronic. so the magazine spent in retirement has to a fault increased. This imagines state instantly bequeath wipe appear to work bimestrial than ever before to cover the cost of their retirement. This essay exit emergeline wherefore Australia get hold ofs to retain honest-to-god workers in the custody, why old(a) quite a little are occlusioning in t he men for long-lasting and converse some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with encouraging elder workers to retard in the manpower for lasting.Australias decrease richness and an ever-increasing life expectancy has caused the Australian Government as well as employers to become increasingly concerned some how the distribution of the population deep down the work force ordain affect the Australian economy. currently the net growth of the Australian manpower is 170,000 people each year. Access political economy has estimated that over the ex 2020 to 2030, the Australian hands is expected to only grow by only 125,000 people. That averages a mere 12,500 people per year.The ramifications for Australia are clear, sassy entrants will alone non provide enough manpower to the workforce to touch expected demand. (Andrews, K 2003) This demographic shift agent the workforce will contend to rely much(prenominal) on sure-enough(a) workers in the tight fitti ng future, as Australia buttocks no longer afford to waste the valuable resources that ripened workers institute to businesses, the economy and society in general. cured workers will be all-important(a) to the success of many companies in the future, and contribute greatly to the profitpower and the survival of these companies.Australias need to advertise honest-to-goodness workers to gruntle in the workforce for longer, will mean employers will need to structure the work surround in such a mood as to fit in with the activities that cured people are deficient to do. The main reason why of age(p) workers retire or offer the workforce is to pursue new activities. (Future of dissemble) While the establishment is encouraging people to work longer if they smoke, beyond traditional retirement ages, one-time(a) workers are unlikely to respond to that promise unless work can be more than(prenominal) flexible and better organised to tackle account of what they privati on to do with their time. numerous older workers dont want to give up work all together and would prefer to work recess time so they can understood piss an income whilst having the flexibility to peruse new activities. The Government as a policy-setter and as an employer will need to meet this demand, vindicatory as the corporate sector will, by increasing piece of work flexibility in order to encourage older workers to confront in the workforce for longer. 2005 figures from the Australian spot of Statistics shows that grandparents are delivering child care services to more than 660,000 children nation wide.This information has lead the carry Chief curate Mr John Stanhope to defy with the need for the restructure of workforce practices inorder to encourage older workers to remain in the workforce for longer and in wear outicuar older workers within the ACT public service sector. Mr Stanhope says that Our ripening workforce, and our need to retain older workers for longer , means that over time we will need to provide working conditions that better effort mature-age workers. Mr Stanhope as well as believes that a side avail of having more flexible working arrangements will as well as encourage retention of young staff because they will see that their employers can be open and adaptable to smorgasbord and work-life balance. We need to ensure young employees can also see the benefits of older workers in their workplace, not as competition for jobs, or barriers to promotion, but as the leaders who will help redefine work practices. (Changing working conditions to suit, 2007) (ACT Chief Minister Exploring Grandparental Leave, twenty-ninth sumptuous 2007) Encouraging older workers to remain in the workforce for longer has endless advantages for the workforce in general, as older workers take more life experience and work experience than their younger counter parts. Older workers are a great on the job training resource as they look at a greater willingness to dish out experiences with their younger co-workers and make up fewer outer responsibilities and distractions as their children have all crowing up.According to seek conducted by Australian Health Management, workers aged 55 or above are more oil-bearing than under-35s because they suffer less depression and headaches, and have no childcare problems. While the younger group of workers had an average of 19% decline in productivity due to childcare responsibilities, allergies, depression, headaches, and asthma. A recent case schooling conducted by DMS Glass establish that the employers considered that their older workers provided highschooler quality standards, which in make for encouraged younger employees to improve, as experience staff passed on the benefit of their years of knowledge.Mature workers will also stay longer at an organisation, especially afterward receiving training, reather than younger workers, who are five generation more likely to chan ge jobs than a mature age worker. Older workers also have less absenteeism and sick leave and, fewer accidents than their younger colleagues. (The Australian, 2006) Influencing older people to remain in the workforce not only benefits the workforce and the economy, but it also has advantages for the worker themselves.As people age they want to remain as physically, mentally healthy and as socially industrious for as long as possible, and for many, work serves as a means of macrocosm able to do so. Research tells us that there is a correlation amid staying in the workforce and good health. (Managing Your age Workforce Conference, 2005. ) work also provides individuals with a sense of purpose, income and status. The reality that people at once are spending longer in retirement than ever before emphasises the time period that individuals will need to remain in the workforce for longer to ensure that they are financially able to live out a comfortable retirement.Some disadvantages to having older workers remain in the workforce for longer include the risk of health problems associated with older workers and their king to perform as expeditiously as their younger counterparts. As people get older they are more subject to deteriorating health, this is a part of life, and something that we have little control over. With deteriorating health these older workers may have to take time off work to attend medical checkup appointments and may even have to trim down some of their work activities for health reasons.With older workers world restricted in their ability to perform certain tasks that are part of their job description this could prove costly to the employer as the employer will have to strip down the costs of employing someone else to carry out these tasks that the older worker can no longer perform. Another problem with older workers being limited in their ability to perform certain tasks is their ability to be allocated another job within a firm or seek utilisation else ware as a high proportion of older workers lack qualifications and have acquired their work skills on the job and these work skills may be specific to their occupation. (Managing Your ripening Workforce Conference, 2005. ) Older workers are also more likely to be repelling to change, less willing to work long hours, and less willing to train. However this concomitant is debatable as professor McGregor from the University of Surry has found that older workers saw themselves as being committed to the job with employees seeing themselves as eminently willing and able to be trained. Encouraging older workers to remain in the workforce will be life-or-death to the success, profit, and survival of many Australian businesses in the future.The decline in Australias birthrate means the Australian workforce will grow an estimated 125,000 people over the decade from 2020 to 2030, which clearly it is not enough workers to meet demand. With this in mind employers will need to rely more on older workers in the future and have to date ways to restructure the work environment in such a way as to fit in with the activities that older people are wanting to do as it has become a know fact through much research that many older workers leave the workforce in pursuit of new activities.If the workplace were restructured as to fit in with the wants and necessitate of older workers, older workers would be able to have the best of both worlds by being able to still earn an income whilst having the flexibility to peruse new activities. broadly there are more advantages than disadvantages in having older workers remain in the workforce for longer within the near future, older workers will prove to be an priceless asset to the Australian workforce and play a crucial role in sustaining Australias economic stability. Bibliography Andrews, K 2003, opening denotation at the Ageless Workforce Symposium, Sydney, 7 awful 2003, Viewed 9th September 2007, . Davies, M 2005, agitate Force Participation by Older Workers, What Influences Decision-making, Victoria University of Wellington, Viewed twenty-ninth August 2007. . Mercer mankind Resource Consulting, The Productivity Commissions Draft Report, Economic Implications of maturation Australia, February 23, 2005, Viewed 29th August 2007, . Franklin, M 2006, November 14, Older workers more productive, The Australian, Viewed 10th September 2007, . Facing an agedness Workforce, Information for Public Service HR Managers, State Services Commission, April 2004.Executive summary, updated twelfth May 2004, Viewed 29th August 2007, . Hayden , C Boaz, A and Taylor, F 1999, Attitudes and aspirations of older people, a qualitative study, Viewed 6th October 2007, . Minister for Ageing, The Hon Julie Bishop, addresses the Managing Your Ageing Workforce Conference in Sydney, Viewed 29th August 2007, . Changing working conditions to suit, 2007, August 28, The Canberra Chronicle, p. 5. ACT Chief Minister E xploring Grandparental Leave, 29th August 2007, Viewed 9th September 2007. . Work and ageing 2005, Causes of our ageing population, Viewed September 9th 2007, .