Mind the (age) gap
Why hiring older workers is a no-brainer
It's the ultimate recruitment paradox. Older staff garner rave reviews in the workplace, yet employers prefer to hire younger people with less experience.
That's absurd with a capital A ... for two reasons:
First, demographics 📈
These days, we are making fewer babies and living better for longer than ever before. That means more and more of us will want and/or need to carry on working deep into later life.
Second, those rave reviews 🏆
Older workers can supercharge any organisation with their:
✅ Experience
✅ Social acumen
✅ Patience
✅ Productivity
✅ Problem-solving smarts
✅ Willingness to speak their mind
✅ Desire to give back and be of service
Of course, not all jobs should go to older people. That would also be absurd. The young have loads to offer any employer. Building a thriving workforce means hiring good people in a range of ages. Truth bomb: In this new era of longevity, the future is multigenerational.
So, let's stop raving about the performance of older workers while also giving them the cold shoulder in recruitment. Let's make hiring on merit (not age) the new normal….
Hearing that Denmark has just raised its retirement age to 70 then definitely older folk need opportunities in the work place. But....as someone who spent 40 years in teaching I'm not sure if I'd still have the physical stamina to be, for example, a full time primary headteacher at 70. There's no getting away from it how ever fit and mobile and however many people tell you 70 is the next 50, I'm not sure I'd fancy taking 30 year 3s out for a P.E. session. Of course there should be opportunities for older folk in the workplace but some occupations may be more forgiving than others. It would also be great to have a few older representatives in the government. Not sure we can say we have a multi generational government in the UK.