Ageism in Australia

[kevinh]

I came across this interesting article recently about our ageism. It rightly points out that we have an ageing population, the Government clearly wants/needs people to stay in the workforce longer, yet it is becoming increasingly difficult for people over the age of 45 to get a job!

It strikes me that HR is in a prime position to address this situation, at the very least by recommending the employment of older people and by giving older candidates a chance when it comes to job applications (by not finding some excuse to reject older candidates because they are "over qualified").

The article goes on to debunk the following myths about older workers;

• Mature age workers will cost the business more for their experience.
• Mature age workers are prone to health problems.
• There is no long-term benefit to training and developing mature age workers.
• Younger workers are better performers than mature age workers.
• Mature age workers won’t be able to adapt to changes and new technology.