An interesting and timely article that is on target. However there is another side to the coin, ‘Age Discrimination in the Job Market’. The problem of age discrimination against ‘Mature Workers’ (individuals over 40 years old, it used to be 50 years old) has been on the rise since the early 1990′s. Very few individuals are covering this issue. Many ‘Mature Workers’ are either unemployed, or underemployed. Others, their careers no where near over, have been encouraged to accept early retirement or buy out packages. Most companies are not interested in hiring them.

In many cases the discrimination is very subtle, but it is there. Comments such as, ‘You sounded much younger on the phone’, ‘How do feel about working with younger workers ?’, ‘Do you feel that you have the energy to work in a fast paced organization?’, all contribute to this problem. Another comments is, ‘You are over qualified’. If you are, then you are qualified to do the job and should be considered for the position. The new comment today is, ‘You do not fit the company profile’. This comment is usually made by individuals in companies where the workforce is primarily made up of individuals in their early twenties and thirties.

I have been committed to this issue since 1993. I have been downsized three more times since 1993. The most recent occurrence was in August of 2003. The company that I was working for is funded by grants through the U.S. Department of Labor. When they applied for their grant for the new fiscal year, the funding was reduced substantially. Consequently, they had to reduce their workforce across the U.S., our group lost six out of eleven people. All of them were over 40 years old.

I am a member of The Mature Workers Coalition. I joined in 1993 when I was downsized from Digital Equipment Corporation. The coalition includes fifteen organizations. We are working to improve the plight of ‘Mature Workers’. We all agree that we can not force companies to hire ‘Mature Workers’. We believe that there are things that can be done to improve this situation. Yes, we do have suggestions that we have presented to various Politicians, or would be Politicians. But they shy away from the issue.

Maybe industry should start looking at experienced, reliable, willing to work, quality unemployed mature workers to fill the void of others that are leaving the workforce. There are many of us out here.

Maybe you could do an article on this subject in the future.

Thank You
AJI

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- enhancing the ability to tap into a rich source of talent (retirees and voluntary leavers)

- promoting a re-hiring culture, sending a message that high-performers are welcome back

- creating a base of on-demand consultants for flexible staffing programs

- strengthening the talent referral base

It is interesting to see how progressive organizations approach seemingly negative phenomena and turn them into areas of competitive advantage.

Cheers,

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Also, it’s time to more fully integrate recriuting and OD activities – for example, succesion planning is a very important recruiting activity NOT just an OD initiative.

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A far less expensive solution than overloaded pension/retirement benefits, etc., is to keep your aging workforce in place and partner them with your newbies to create a fluctating, educated, I-know-how-to-do-it upcoming and well-trained staff.

As an ‘aging workforce’ person myself, I don’t expect to retire, but intend to work as long as I can. I enjoy working, am unmarried, and have no particular desire to quit working. As long as I am sharp enough to do the job well, I expect my employer to leave me alone, and in exchange, I expect to assist any co-worker learning the ropes in any way I can, and solve any problems coming up that I have learned how to solve because of years of experience.

If one-half the ‘aging workforce’ experienced staff are left in place, even with higher salary levels that will have to be paid, far less of the company’s assets will be devoted to retirement benefits.
Meantime, experienced staff make it possible for a company to function more efficiently and at a higher profit. Carrying a staff full of inexperienced workers who don’t know about expectations from the employer or how to do the job, or how to talk to a troubled customer is a good way for any organization to lose money.

The idea that came in 20 years or so ago, that no time or money should be dedicated to training a new employee was a disaster. Just try any customer service division anywhere, in any company, especially banking.
Let’s try something else.

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