14 November 2005
Despite the Federal Government pushing for greater participation of older workers in the labour market, industry is failing to develop proactive approaches for keeping Australia's baby boomers in the workforce, a seminar will hear today, Monday 14 November.
Dr Glennis Hanley and Dr Tui McKeown, from Monash University 's Department of Management, will discuss the challenges facing employers at today's seminar, hosted by Monash's Australian Centre for Research in Employment and Work.
Dr Hanley says mature aged employees are under-represented in Australia's workforce. "Many mature aged workers have retired involuntarily, with around 44 per cent of men aged 45 and over retiring as a result of redundancy," she says.
"Businesses need to employ the broad-based business experiences of baby boomers to foster and transfer cross-generational knowledge as a means of integrating the diverse abilities of today's heterogeneous workplace."
Dr McKeown says it is predicted by 2020 that 50 per cent of the current workforce will have retired. "No action is currently being taken to recognise the skills of older workers," she says.
"Industry's lack of proactivity is reinforcing the traditional response to 'outsource' and 'outcontract' to counter skills shortages linked to staff retirement, but this is not a long-term solution."
In 2003, close to a third of Australian workers were aged 45-64 years, and it is predicted that by 2020, half of Australia 's current workforce will have retired. Dr Hanley says with one of the world's most rapidly ageing populations, Australia needs to support its ageing workforce. "Despite recent ABS evidence that one in four men in their late 60s and one in three women aged between 60-64 are still working, we need to change ingrained industry attitudes towards older workers and convince baby boomers that they can benefit from working beyond conventional retirement age."
What: 'Australia's grey collar workforce: The ageing baby boomers' seminar
When: Monday 14 November, 11.30 am to 1 pm
Where: Room E365, Menzies Building , Monash University, Clayton campus
For further information contact Ms Natasha Whalley, Media Communications on +61 3 9905 9201 or 0437 458 457 or Ms Jacqui Golding, Faculty of Business and Economics on +61 3 9903 2265.
| 
