Employers and governments
need to put policies in place to make ageing populations an opportunity rather
than a threat, according to the HSBC Global Forum on Ageing and Retirement. The
online community of the world’s leading authorities in the field of ageing
and longevity which launched yesterday, found there is growing evidence that age-diverse
workforces are good for business.
A panel of world-class experts debated the impact of the ageing
population on workforces, chaired by Professor Sarah Harper, director of the
Oxford Institute of Ageing and Chair of the Global Commission on Ageing and
Retirement. They concluded that we must stop seeing increases in older workers
as a means to solve social security shortages and more as an opportunity to
improve our businesses.
Professor Sarah Harper said, “Working practices are not
changing quickly enough. Governments must do more to remove the barriers to
the continued employment of older people, particularly considering that exclusionary
employment policies are a significant factor in explaining their withdrawal
from the labour force.”
Research has shown that staff turnover among 50-59 year olds
is half that of the overall average2. Moreover, one retail chain3 found that
a store staffed with older people achieved an 18 per cent increase in profit,
a 39 per cent reduction in absenteeism and 59 per cent less product loss. As
consumer populations age, it makes sense that their retail and business providers
follow suit. Similarly, the Norwegian model of an inclusive workplace has shown
that there are real benefits of age integrated labour forces.
Ken Howse, HSBC Global Forum commissioner and editor of Ageing
Horizons, said, “We want more people to be able to stay in work and to
choose to stay in work. A whole range of policy levers need to be pulled to
achieve this.”
Andrew Harrop, a panellist and head of policy at Age Concern,
commented on the role of employers, “Many HR departments in large organisations
are well aware of the need to recruit from a wider range of ages. Unfortunately,
line managers can reflect the prejudices of society and may recruit on the basis
of out-dated stereotypes.”
Gordon Lishman, Director General of Age Concern, and a commissioner
on the Global Forum, said, “In our ageing society, the economy will increasingly
rely on the skills of older workers, yet thousands will continue to be pushed
out of jobs and denied the right to choose when to retire, simply because of
their date of birth.”
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