Revealed: The jobs to apply for if you’re a mature-aged worker

The ‘great resignation’ has taken Australia’s workforce by storm and mature aged workers can benefit. Here’s the jobs to apply for.

The “great resignation” has shifted many workers’ attitudes toward their career and mature age workers are no different, with industries such as healthcare, cleaning and hospitality welcoming older job seekers.

Recent ABS job vacancy statistics show job opportunities in South Australia have been on the rise since May 2021, increasing by 14.6 per cent by May 2022.

This comes as professional services firm KPMG said the expected retirement age has increased over the past 20 years.

In a 2022 report entitled When Will I Retire?, KPMG also suggested Australians are now more likely to transition from full-time work to part-time work before retiring.

“Older people may also temporarily retire from the labour force and return to full-time or part-time employment in the future,” the report said.

“As people adapt to the ‘new normal’, some shifts will endure as behaviours learnt during the pandemic, for example, the ability to work more flexibly – hours and location, could see an ongoing increase in the age of retirement.”

Christine Sideris knows what it’s like to change careers later in life.

Disability support worker, Christine Sideris, 60 is a mature aged worker who changed careers later in life. Picture: Brenton Edwards

After suffering a debilitating shoulder injury as a retail worker in 1991, Ms Sideris was forced to wave goodbye to her dreams of a career in hairdressing and faced mental health struggles.

She found work as a school services officer but 12 years later resigned to care for her sick father full-time.

Now 60, Ms Sideris’ experiences led her to the healthcare industry where she has taken on a role as an allied health worker at disability service provider HenderCare in May.

“I had lots of transferable skills including communication, organisation, time management and occupational health and safety,” she said.

“I feel fulfilled because I know I’m giving back to the community.”

Her advice to mature aged job seekers?

“You’re never too old and if you believe in yourself everything and anything is possible,” Ms Sideris said.

Disability support worker, Christine Sideris, 60 is a mature aged worker who changed careers later in life. Picture: Brenton Edwards

1. Healthcare

The healthcare industry is desperate for workers and not-for-profit recruitment agency, WISE Employment says the sector is hiring large numbers of mature aged workers.

Job seekers are gaining employment as disability carers, nursing support staff, personal care workers, welfare support staff and special care workers.

The demand comes as the sector faces shortages in many critical departments including mental health, emergency care, intensive care and more, according to The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation SA branch.

UniSA senior economics lecturer Dr Xin Deng said the industry has reported the highest number of job vacancies within the workforce in the last year.

2. Administrative and office support

Administrative and office support roles across industries are among the jobs most likely be filled by mature aged workers, as their experience and professional knowledge make for good hires, according to data from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

A SEEK spokesperson said advertisements for these positions had surged by 112.3 per cent in SA since June 2019.

“The industry is primarily looking for administrative assistants, receptionists and client and sales workers,” the spokesperson said.

Employers are seeking candidates with customer service, interpersonal communication, organisation and document management skills.

3. Trades and services

Trades and services positions are also among the most likely to hire mature aged workers according to AIHW.

The SEEK spokesperson reported a spike in job advertisements by 95 per cent since June 2019.

“They are on the hunt for automotive trade workers, labourers and electricians,” the spokesperson said.

Strong written and verbal communication skills and a drivers licence are needed, but employers are also looking for industry knowledge and ability to use hand tools.

4. Farming, animals and conservation

Farming, animals and conservation rounds out the AIHW’s top three industries most likely to hire mature aged workers.

SEEK advertisements are up 117 per cent since June 2019 and the spokesperson said the most needed roles are in farm labour, vet services and horticulture.

While some of these roles require formal qualifications, others are looking for job seekers who are hardworking, reliable and work well in a team.

5. Aged care

The age care industry is struggling to fill 35,000 roles each year – a number which a CEDA report shows has doubled mainly because of the pandemic.

Author of the report and senior economist at CEDA, Cassandra Winzar, said there is huge demand overall for aged care workers and a way to meet that demand would be to hire under-represented groups like older workers.

“We really think it is a great option for older workers to go and work in aged care. They is a variety of roles, some of which need qualifications and some of which don’t,” said Ms Winzar.

Ms Winzar said most aged care roles are personal care worker roles which would be a good fit for mature workers as they have life experience and ability to connect with people requiring care.

“We’ve got pretty widespread labour shortages throughout all sectors, so there’s lots of good opportunities for mature age workers that maybe want to come back into the workforce or change sector or increase their hours — now is the time to do it.”

6. Market research

Call centre work across data entry, sales, inbound and outbound roles and customer service roles readily employ the over 50s according to SMAART Recruitment.

The employment agency’s Adelaide general manager Matthew Dew said a candidate’s suitability should not be determined by their age.

“With the unemployment right now, the lowest in 40 years, I think now is a great time to be looking for work. Any employer who is not considering all types of candidates is foolish,” Mr Dew said.

Mr Dew said more than 20 per cent of the agency’s current temporary contracted staff were over 50.

7. Hospitality

It has been one of the hardest-hit by the pandemic, but the hospitality industry is searching for workers as it tries to regain its strength.

Australian Hotels Association Chief executive Ian Horne said housekeepers, food and beverage assistants, kitchen hands and chefs were the key roles currently available.

“There are a lot of opportunities for people who have basic skills in food service and delivery, but generally speaking job seekers who have people skills and a willingness to learn will be successful,” he said.

“It’s about the attitude and this applies to all age groups, but it can be assumed mature people have got greater life skills and have a clearer idea of what they enjoy doing.

“While a lot of people see the industry as an entry point, it’s also a great place for mature people, we have a significant number of industrial workers who are long term employees and have made a career out of hospitality.”

8. Cleaning

Kirsty O’Shea said cleaning company O’Shea’s Organisation had noticed increase of job seekers from older age brackets and said they brought with them workforce experience and work ethic.

“Reliability comes with work ethic and I think that comes with maturity,” Ms O’Shea said

“We wouldn’t say no, maturity is a gift.”

Ms O’Shea said a third her team were mature aged but as the company did a lot of industrial cleaning, which could be hard on the body, they tended to lean toward domestic, commercial and NDIS cleaning.

9. Finance

UniSA senior economics lecturer Dr Xin Deng said the finance industry had a relatively high number of job vacancies within the last year.

“There’s consistently been about 15,000 job vacancies nationwide over the last five quarters. So, it’s quite possible they still need more people.” she said.

Dr Deng said that sales and customer service roles in the finance industry would be quicker and easier for mature age workers to get into due to their past experience as well as life experience.

10. Retail

The retail sector continues to rebuild following pandemic disruption and it has more job opportunities than ever.

The Australian Retailers Association found the skills shortages were most prominent in frontline customer service positions and digital analysts roles geared towards supply chain logistics.

A spokesperson said the sector was battling globally for talent as a result of Covid complications which deterred international workers.

“While sales assistants are entry level roles, the data driven roles require a different skill set and knowledge in commerce and accounting,” he said.

“Our government advocacy is focused on mobilising more mature age workers and pensioners into the workforce, accelerated training solutions for key workforce cohorts.”