Friday, December 24, 2010
Merits of employing Older workers
http://mytoday.com/u/1561 dated 24.December.2010
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Ageing people coming bak to work is called ' Silver Tsunami'.
Olders workers cost less on Medi care bills since, they no longer have dependent children on them.
When it comes to job performance, older workers frequently outdo their younger colleagues, says Cappelli. Older workers have less absenteeism, less turnover, superior interpersonal skills and deal better with customers. "The evidence is unbelievably huge," he notes. "Basically, older workers perform better on just about everything.
And contrary to the belief that older workers resist learning new things, older workers ranked "job challenge and learning" as a top source of satisfaction with their work, says center director Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes.
Many myths about older workers reflect 20th century views of retirement that have proved to be short-lived. "Historically, the idea of people working full-time and stopping completely is an anomaly of world history," says Cappelli. The notion of retiring at age 65 came in with the Social Security system and employer-based pensions, he says. But full retirement was never what most employees wanted, he notes, adding that "what they want is to keep working in some fashion. They want to change the way they work, but not stop altogether."
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When the Society for Human Resource Management conducted its most recent survey of attitudes toward older workers in 2006, 60% of the 308 personnel managers surveyed said that older workers are more reliable and 59% said older workers have a stronger work ethic than younger ones. On the flip side, 49% said that older workers do not keep up with technology and 38% said such workers cause health care costs to rise.
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Ads targeting such workers often mention the benefit that the age group values most: flexibility. One former ad invited recruits to "Use our employee discount to shop for your grandkids."
Retirement doesn't end ties between employees and the Freeport, Maine-based company, which encourages retirees to return to work on a seasonal basis. "We find that many retirees bring a high level of maturity," says a company spokesperson. "They understand the importance of a good work ethic" and have no problem with flexible schedules. "More than half of our seasonal workforce comes back year after year."
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A study sponsored by the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures, a think tank that helps people find "encore careers," predicts as many as five million job vacancies by 2018 if the baby boomers retire at the same rate and age as current older workers. Many of these vacancies will be in social service fields such as health care, education and non-profit positions. Not only will there be jobs for older workers to fill, says the study, "but the nation will absolutely need older workers to step up and take them."
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Gardner envisions partnerships and mentoring relationships between older workers who seek meaning in phased retirements and younger individuals who are looking to build their careers. Gardner himself has no plans to step down from his job researching the college labor market and recruiting trends. "At 64, people are asking me to stay until I'm 70," he says. "I'm having fun with what I do, so why quit? Why give up a job I love?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ageing people coming bak to work is called ' Silver Tsunami'.
Olders workers cost less on Medi care bills since, they no longer have dependent children on them.
When it comes to job performance, older workers frequently outdo their younger colleagues, says Cappelli. Older workers have less absenteeism, less turnover, superior interpersonal skills and deal better with customers. "The evidence is unbelievably huge," he notes. "Basically, older workers perform better on just about everything.
And contrary to the belief that older workers resist learning new things, older workers ranked "job challenge and learning" as a top source of satisfaction with their work, says center director Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes.
Many myths about older workers reflect 20th century views of retirement that have proved to be short-lived. "Historically, the idea of people working full-time and stopping completely is an anomaly of world history," says Cappelli. The notion of retiring at age 65 came in with the Social Security system and employer-based pensions, he says. But full retirement was never what most employees wanted, he notes, adding that "what they want is to keep working in some fashion. They want to change the way they work, but not stop altogether."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the Society for Human Resource Management conducted its most recent survey of attitudes toward older workers in 2006, 60% of the 308 personnel managers surveyed said that older workers are more reliable and 59% said older workers have a stronger work ethic than younger ones. On the flip side, 49% said that older workers do not keep up with technology and 38% said such workers cause health care costs to rise.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ads targeting such workers often mention the benefit that the age group values most: flexibility. One former ad invited recruits to "Use our employee discount to shop for your grandkids."
Retirement doesn't end ties between employees and the Freeport, Maine-based company, which encourages retirees to return to work on a seasonal basis. "We find that many retirees bring a high level of maturity," says a company spokesperson. "They understand the importance of a good work ethic" and have no problem with flexible schedules. "More than half of our seasonal workforce comes back year after year."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A study sponsored by the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures, a think tank that helps people find "encore careers," predicts as many as five million job vacancies by 2018 if the baby boomers retire at the same rate and age as current older workers. Many of these vacancies will be in social service fields such as health care, education and non-profit positions. Not only will there be jobs for older workers to fill, says the study, "but the nation will absolutely need older workers to step up and take them."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gardner envisions partnerships and mentoring relationships between older workers who seek meaning in phased retirements and younger individuals who are looking to build their careers. Gardner himself has no plans to step down from his job researching the college labor market and recruiting trends. "At 64, people are asking me to stay until I'm 70," he says. "I'm having fun with what I do, so why quit? Why give up a job I love?"
Labels: Knowledge at Wharton
