Comment
Older workers speaking out
The Council on the Ageing (COTA) has been speaking to groups of older unemployed workers in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide about the problems they face in finding jobs and the solutions to their dilemmas. Veronica Sheen, COTA’s national policy officer, reports.
The story is the same time and time again. Dozens, sometimes hundreds of job applications, few replies and just the occasional interview. Self-esteem and confidence down the gurgler. This is the human face of long term unemployment for many older adults in the Australian community.
But mature age people are speaking up and making it clear that there has to be change: in employer practices, community attitudes and government policy.
This is what they are saying:
First. Forget the idea that mature age people don’t need to work for financial reasons and can be siphoned off into early retirement. The world has changed. Mature age people need jobs for the same reasons as everyone else: to support current living costs and save for future needs. Many have families to support. For example, a couple starting a family between the ages of 35 and 40 may be supporting their children in education until they are in their early 60s. And as we all know, governments are becoming more tight-fisted by the minute. They want the older population to be as independent of government support as possible. So saving for retirement is a major priority for mature age people.
Second. Employment is just as important for social acceptance and value for someone in their fifties as someone in their twenties or thirties. Mature age people are devastated by job loss. Unemployment creates depression and reduces confidence and self-esteem. Whether you are 25 or 55 the impact of unemployment is just the same.
Third. The idea that mature age people are not as good workers as younger people is just not true. They are going out of their way to re-train themselves, to be adaptable and flexible and not to demand exorbitant wages. But at the end of the day, employers’ prejudices, built up through media images, mean that younger people are given preference.
Fourth. People in their fifties are not looking forward to retirement. The old stereotype of working for 40 years and retiring with a gold watch is hopelessly outdated. Traditional ideas of retirement for the current 50-somethings of the millennium are just not on the agenda of their lives. Most envisage that there will be a flow-on from paid employment to some other form of making a contribution to society and ongoing activity.
What can be done?
Top priority has to be changing employer attitudes. This will not be easy. But one thing is sure to make them change: evidence that they are losing money because they are not nurturing the skills and experience of the mature workers.
Attitudes to ageing in the community need to change as well. The International Year of Older Persons banner is ‘a society for all ages’. Valuing older Australians will mean they get a better share of job opportunities.
Finally, government policy can make a difference by recognising the problem and ensuring that mature workers are well trained for the needs of the millennium workforce.
