A couple of years ago I wrote an article titiled Will you still need me when I’m 64?
It talked about age discrimination and how in OECD countries older workers (50-64) were less likely to be in employment than the younger group (25-50) by an average of 12% (in 2008). This disparity in unemployment rates has political undertones especially in the area of equity in employment & discrimination. The consequences of age discrimination for the older generation has more impact. So is it age related prejudice in hiring and retention decisions or is it just cognitive biases?
The decrease in the retirement age in the 1970’s allowed younger people to fill the jobs left by the retiring 60 year olds. One study showed a negative impact on youth unemployment as retirement age decreased. As the number of retirees in New Zealand and OECD countries increase pressure goes on businesses and society as a whole.
One way to overcome this issue is to incentivize employers to train and retain older workers to help eliminate the burgeoning tax burden facing future generations. Probably most importantly there must be a shift in attitude towards (and from) older workers. There is however no easy fix.
What do you think?
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