Understanding the Older Workforce

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Understanding the Older Workforce

• Professor Stephen McNair
• Director,
• Centre for Research into the Older Workforce,
  University of Surrey

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The older workforce the questions

• What is the problem?
• Why attend to it?
• How different is the older workforce?
• What makes people retire or stay in work?
• What should firms be doing?

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What is the problem?

• We are living longer
• Life expectancy rose by 30 yrs in 20th century,
• 90 now live to State Pension Age compared to 66
  in 1950
• We are not replacing the workforce
• lowest ever birth rate (1.6 per woman),
• young people entering the workforce later,
• largest ever age cohort approaching retirement,
• ageing workforce a major constraint in 6/14
  occupational sectors
• We are saving less
• lowest ever savings rate,
• highest ever personal debt,
• average pension yield halved 2000-2003
• This is not sustainable

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Why should firms attend to this issue now?

• Bottom line
• growing skills gaps and shortages
• firms losing knowledge and expertise
• Legal compliance law in 2006
• how to manage entry, exit, promotion when age
  discrimination becomes illegal
• no regulations yet
• Corporate social responsibility
• using talents
• quality of post retirement life
• insecurity, low trust

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Age and performance in the workplace

• Overall job performance is unrelated to age up to
  State Pension Age
• Some decline in performance after 40 for those
  who do not receive training
• Three key factors
• physical ability - little difference for most
  jobs,
• adaptability to change - old need training
• general work effectiveness - old do better
• (Warr 1994)

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How different are older workers?

• Older workers score on
• Conscientious/reliable
• Job effectiveness
• Thinking before acting
• Loyalty
• Interpersonal skills
• Team working
• Response to direction
• Product knowledge
• Social knowledge and networks
• Absenteeism
• Accidents
• Labour turnover

• Younger workers score on
• Grasping new ideas
• Adaptability to change
• Accepting new technologies
• Learning quickly
• Interest in training
• (Warr 1994)

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The new older workforce the baby boomers grow
old

• better qualified
• more ambitious
• more critical

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Choosing to stay in work some factors

• Flexibility
• Control and respect
• State of the labour market
• Previous economic activity
• Qualifications
• Training
• Financial commitments
• Synchronised spouses
• Caring roles
• Aspirations gt50 would consider working longer

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The diversity of the older workforcethree
clusters

• CROW national survey of job change 2003
• 5500 people, 1700 in 50-69 age range
• Half change jobs in a 5 year period
• Most increase their skills and responsibility
• Three groups of people
• Choosers
• Survivors
• Jugglers
• CROW 2004

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Choosers

• Highly qualified (mostly graduates)
• Professional/managerial
• 2/3 male
• Positive reasons for job change and retirement
• High incomes
• Home owners
• Stay or retire from choice and for interest
• To keep them you must make work interesting

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Survivors

• Unqualified (50)
• Routine/semi-routine work
• 2/3 male
• Highest proportion divorced
• Negative reasons for change and retirement
• Poor health
• Home owners still working / renters are retired
• Keeping them requires money

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Jugglers

• Qualified (below degree)
• Spread across socio-economic range
• Almost all are married women
• Home owners
• Working part-time
• Low incomes
• Work in SMEs
• After retirement may take up voluntary work
• Flexibility is critical

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Questions for Employers?

• Do you have adequate information on
• current age profile of your workforce,
• aspirations of your older workforce
• future skill supply trends
• implications of age discrimination legislation
• Is there age bias in your policies or practice in
  relation to
• recruitment,
• promotion,
• training,
• leave,
• retirement
• Do you have fair and workable mechanisms for
  dismissal?

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Persuading them to stay

• If it was necessary to retain key skills and
  manpower could you offer
• greater autonomy for workers
• flexible hours
• part-time/occasional work
• career guidance, including mid career review and
  retirement preparation
• retraining for older workers
• carer leave
• progressive phasing out options of older workers
• changing roles for older workers - mentoring etc

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Three offers

• Volunteers for the CROW study of employer
  practice for DTI
• Clients for the CROW consultancy service
• Partners for future research
• Contact Professor Stephen McNair, CROW, Senate
  House, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH
• s.mcnair_at_surrey.ac.uk