‘Ageism’ penalising employees earlier

Almost half of Australian businesses admit to a cut-off age beyond which they are reluctant to recruit — and it’s getting younger.

Almost 17 per cent now classified older workers as 51-54 years old, a six-percentage-point jump in three years. Picture: istock

The age at which a person is considered an “older worker” is getting younger, new research shows.

And almost half of Australian businesses admit to a cut-off age beyond which they are reluctant to recruit.

Yet there are more older workers in the workplace now than even three years ago, and employees increasingly expect to ­retire later, a study by the Australian HR Institute and Australian Human Rights Commission, has found.

The survey of 604 business leaders, academics and HR leaders conducted in February found that while 28 per cent of respondents defined an “older worker” as 61-65 years old, making it the most commonly nominated age range, that proportion had fallen eight percentage points since 2018.

Almost 17 per cent now classified older workers as 51-54 years old, a six-percentage-point jump in three years.

Yet the workforce itself is ageing. A third of survey respondents said between 26-50 per cent of their workforce was now made up of workers older than 55, an ­increase of six percentage points since 2018 and 10 percentage points since 2012.

Despite this, 47 per cent of ­respondents from the HR community reported there was an age above which their organisation would be reluctant to recruit workers. Public sector organisations were the most reticent, the report, Employing and Retaining Older Workers, found.

Australian HR Institute chief executive Sarah McCann Bartlett said the survey results revealed ageism remained a significant issue for older workers looking to secure or retain jobs in all sectors of the economy.

“At the same time as our workforce is getting older, our perception of what is an older worker is getting younger,” she told The Australian.

Ms McCann Bartlett said this disconnect, coupled with the ­reluctance of businesses to hire ­people over a certain age, was bad both for older people wanting to work and for organisations that missed out on what they added to a workplace.

“Older workers bring experience, professional knowledge and diversity, all of which give an organisation access to a different skills pool,” she said.

“It has to be remembered that we haven’t had any skilled migration coming into Australia for over a year, so we need a larger and more diverse skills pool.

“The most important thing we can do is address the bias, often unconscious, against older workers. Ageism against older workers doesn’t even necessarily stem from negative feelings. Older people are often viewed as loyal and reliable. However, when nearly a quarter of businesses don’t actively implement recruitment practices to encourage age diversity, ageism is the inevitable ­result.”

Age Discrimination Commissioner Kay Patterson said it was pleasing there had been a 14-­percentage-point increase since 2014 in businesses that recognised the departure of older workers caused a loss of key skills and knowledge, but too many organisations were failing to heed the lesson. “Age diverse workplaces are good for business and for the economy. Failing to hire and retain older workers is a missed opportunity for everyone,” Dr Patterson said.

Offering flexible working arrangements was the top initiative for both retaining older workers and encouraging age diversity in recruitment, the survey found.