Survey: Employers Looking to Retain and Hire Older Workers

Careerbuilder.com's 2010 Job Forecast indicates that there will an uptick in employer hiring in 2010. Among other things, it reports that companies understand the intellectual capital mature workers bring to their organization and 27% say they are open to retaining their workers who are approaching retirement. In addition, 16% say they are likely to rehire retirees from other companies in 2010, and 10% are likely to provide incentives for workers at or approaching retirement age to stay on with the company longer.

Source: Careerbuilder.com Press Release (December 29, 2009)

United Kingdom: Study Released on Employers and Aging Workforce

According to research conducted by the United Kingdom's Institute for Employment Studies and the Policy Studies Institute, only half of employers have a formal pro-age recruitment policy, and many are nervous of discussing age issues with workers as they approach retirement. However, many businesses are open to making adjustments to the workplace to help retain staff if the issue is raised on an informal basis.

The report "An Ageing Workforce--The Employer’s Perspective", authored by Helen Barnes, Deborah Smeaton, and Rebecca Taylor and funded by Nuffield Foundation, explores the attitudes of employers towards older workers, the range of interventions in place to prevent early exit and facilitate their continued employment. The report found that many employers are happy to let people carry on working after the normal retirement age of 65, and many would also be happy to see compulsory retirement abolished, but that they need support to get the best out of more mature workers.

According to Barnes:

The role of line managers is crucial here. Employers must make a greater effort to communicate with staff and highlight that alternative working arrangements are a possibility, and that staff have a degree of choice in the run-up to retirement age. Employees on their part also need to be better informed of their rights to help encourage them to engage with their employer.

Other findings include:

• Formal pro-age recruitment policies and age management policies are more common in larger organisations.
• Some employers did express reservations around older workers, where they did not match their customer demographic or there was a heavy manual element to their work.
• Health is still largely regarded as a private, individual matter rather than a concern for employers beyond meeting specific health and safety regulations.
• Some employers simply do not have any experience of staff retiring, often because they have a small business or a new business with a young workforce. Larger employers were familiar with the retirement process and more often had policies in place to manage the process.
• Older workers in sectors with skills shortages are recognised as a valuable resource, and employers are keen to retain them.

In addition, a summary of the report is available.

Source: Institute for Employment Studies Press Release (October 21, 2009)

Japan: Workers Over 60 Increase to 10% of Workforce

According to survey results from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, workers aged 60 or older comprised 10% of full-time employees for the first time in 2008. In addition, almost 60% of employers had such senior employees. The 10% rate represented an increase of 2.4 points from 2004 and over doubling from the 49.% rate in 1992.

Among other findings, 50.2 per cent of responding businesses employed workers aged 60 to 64, 26.9 per cent employed workers in the age bracket of 65 to 69, and 15.6 per cent had people aged 70 or older on their payroll.

Smaller establishments tended to have more elderly workers, the ministry said. For example, the rate of senior employees there was 12.0 per cent at those employing five to 29 workers.

By sector, real estate had the highest rate at 18.1 per cent, followed by transportation with 14.9 per cent and mining with 13.7 per cent.

The survey also found that 89.1 per cent of businesses with a mandatory retirement age of 60 to 64 had programs to continue employing workers after the limit.

Source: Business Standard "60% businesses employed senior people in 2008: Poll" (August 21, 2009)

United Kingdom: Research Suggests Older Workers a Key During Economic Downturn

Research commissioned by the Learning and Skills Council is being used to urge West Midlands employers to take full advantage of the skills and experience of older workers (those aged 50 to 70) during the economic downturn. According to "Labour Market and Training Experiences of Older Workers in the West Midlands ", employers are increasingly aware of the benefits of older job applicants when searching for recruits with personal qualities such as loyalty, experience and reliability. In addition, older workers provide employers with practical advantages such as better retention, fewer training needs, and fewer family and childcare commitments.

Among other findings of the research study:

• the older people are, the more likely they are to have no qualifications. Nearly 60% of people aged 60 to 64 have no qualifications, a proportion that rises steadily from 26% among those aged between 40 and 44;
• although most employed older workers had a positive attitude to work, this was balanced by reservations about stress and excessive paperwork;
• a large proportion of employed participants believed that larger employers offer more advantages to older workers, including clearer progression routes and better policies on issues such as flexible working and job-sharing.

Source: West Midlands Learning and Skills Council Press Release (January 23, 2009)

McKinsey Study Suggests Boomers Have To Keep Working for Both Their Good and for Good of Global Economy

According to a new study from the McKinsey Global Institute, the only realistic way to prevent aging boomers from experiencing a significant decline in their living standards and becoming a multidecade drag on U.S. and world economic growth is for boomers to continue working beyond the traditional retirement age. This, in turn, will require important changes in public policy, business practices, and personal behavior.

The authors--Eric D. Beinhocker, Diana Farrell, and Ezra Greenberg--found that two-thirds of the oldest boomers are financially unprepared for retirement, and many are not even aware of their predicament, and that US labor force participation rates are declining: "Without an unexpected burst of productivity growth or a significant upsurge in investment per worker, the aging boomers’ reduced levels of working and spending will slow the real growth of the US GDP from an average of 3.2 percent a year since 1965 to about 2.4 percent over the next three decades."

While many boomers do want to continue working, a number of institutional and legal barriers-—health care costs, labor laws, pension regulations, and corporate attitudes toward older workers—-could prevent them from prolonging their careers. Thus, the government must reallocate health insurance costs for older workers, businesses and boomers must agree on more flexible work arrangements, policy makers must reform private pensions, and Social Security must remove disincentives to remaining in the workforce.

Source: McKinsey Quarterly "Why baby boomers will need to work longer " (November 2008)

United Kingdom: Survey Shows Continued Age Discrimination Affecting Older Workers

According to a survey conducted by the Age and Employment Network (TAEN), only 10% of surveyed jobseekers in the United Kingdom aged 50 and over could say they had never experienced age discrimination when looking for work. In addition, just 13% thought the UK age discrimination legislation introduced in October 2006 had helped older people find work.

TAEN's "Survey of Jobseekers Aged 50+" also surveyed employer perceptions. While 67% of jobseekers felt they had the right skills for today’s labour market, 63% believed they were seen as too old by employers and 42% said they were seen as too experienced or over-qualified.

Chris Ball, Chief Executive of TAEN , commented:

We began gathering responses to our survey in January 2008, before the labour market slowdown and the crisis in financial markets started to bite. Our data represents responses from older jobseekers in a context when personal financial worries were probably less grave. We cannot but be concerned that the over-50s are going to face even greater barriers as the economy deteriorates.

Source: The Age and Employment Network Press Release (October 27, 2008)

Canada: Conference Board Report Suggests Employers Not Making Efforts To Retain Mature Workers

The Conference Board of Canada has released a research report suggesting that while Canadian employers are worried about a rapidly aging workforce, they are not putting their money--or their human resources policies--into innovative ways to retain them. According to "Harnessing the Power: Recruiting, Engaging, and Retaining Mature Workers," authored by Karla Thorpe, most "organizations have not yet targeted specific human resources programs and policies to their mature workers. This is limiting their ability to attract, retain, and engage this increasingly important segment." Specifically, only 11% actively try to recruit mature workers with measures such as rehiring former employees and offering flexible hours or phased retirement.

On the hiring side, however, the Conference Board found employers to be a lot more active with regard to enticing mature workers back into the workforce. For organiazations that specifically recruit older workers, 73% report success in hiring them; for organizations taking a more general approach, only 23% report success attracting mature workers.

The report concludes that employers will need to invest in a better understanding of the motivations, needs, and preferences of this cohort in order to ensure organizational success as the post–war baby boom ages. It also singled out some employers that have responded to an aging workforce with innovative solutions.

Sources: Conference Board Executive Summary (October 2008); Canwest News Service "Mature workers need wooing: Conference Board" (October 17, 2008)

Australia: Businesses Told to End Ageist Practices, Build Skills Training for Older Workers

According to Fran Ferrier, a researcher at Monash University's Centre for the Economics of Education and Training (CEET), if the Australian economy as a whole is to avoid a mass exodus of valuable human capital, businesses will need to be flexible and provide effective skills development for older workers. "There are now few programs specifically for this group and older workers face barriers to participation including ageist employer attitudes."

While the number of people aged 45 to 64 in the workforce has grown substantially, more than 40% of Australians still leave the workforce by age 55 and 80% by age 65, and only 5% are still working at the age of 70. Ferrer says that a key issue is skills: "helping existing workers to update and extend their skills encourages them to keep working."

Ferrer cited research she conducted at CEET with Gerald Burke and Chris Selby Smith to point out that businesses that take action have much to gain. Seven case studies discussed in the study--"Skills development for a diverse older workforce"--of at-work and community-run skills development programs run for, or with a high participation rate, of older people, identified benefits to both the businesses and the individuals involved.

Source: My Small Business"New tricks, not harder ones" (August 14, 2008)

Survey: Employers Looking for Educated Older Workers

A report issued by the Urban Institute suggests that baby boomers looking for jobs in growth fields that welcome older workers "will want to dust off their diplomas rather than their treadmills" since most of the fastest-growing occupations that already employ above-average shares of workers age 55 and older rely on an educated workforce. The report also discusses the personal and social benefits of increased work by older adults and the reasons why boomers are likely to try to work longer than earlier generations and examines whether employers will want older workers and how changes in the nature of work, demands for different occupations, the characteristics of older workers, and overall labor force growth will affect the future demand for older workers.

According to the study--"Will Employers Want Aging Boomers?"--by Gordon B.T. Mermin, Richard W. Johnson, and Eric J. Toder, employers value older workers for their maturity, experience and work ethic, but worry about out of date skills and high costs. Future jobs will require less physical demands and more cognitive and interpersonal skills, trends that favor educated older workers, but job opportunities for less educated older workers may remain limited.

The faster growing areas that require education include personal financial advisors, veterinarians, social and community service managers, surveyors, environmental scientists and geoscientists, registered nurses, and instructional coordinators. The list also includes postsecondary teachers, archivists and curators, social workers, management analysts, pharmacists, counselors, and business operation specialists. The fastest-growing area friendly to senior workers is personal and home care aides. Other categories that depend less on academic credentials include usherers, animal trainers, locksmiths, and brokerage clerks.

In their conclusion to the complete discussion paper, the authors recommend that, in order to promote employment at older ages, policymakers might consider the following steps to increase demand for older workers:

• make Medicare the primary payer for workers with employer-provided health insurance;
• reduce legal uncertainties surrounding formal phased retirement programs;
• allow in-service distribution of defined benefit pensions at age 59 1/2;
• better target government training and employment services to older workers; and
• take steps to increase employer awareness of the value of older workers.

Source: Urban Institute Press Release (July 23, 2008)

United Kingdom: SME's Looking to Older Workers To Fill Skills Shortages

The Tenon Forum reports that entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom are increasingly relying on older workers to plug skills shortages in their businesses. Tenon regularly surveys small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and its latest research reveals that 30% of SMEs have a strong representation of employees aged over 50, with many businesses utilising the experience of older workers as coaches and mentors for younger employees (20%) or in the capacity of consultants following retirement (12%).

SMEs are looking to older workers to address concerns about skills shortages and that younger recruits are often just not up to the job: 34% report a lack of work readiness amongst graduates and 31% cite poor literacy and numeracy amongst school leavers as a key issue facing their business. Accordingly, 66% of SME leaders agree that the employment of workers aged 50 plus is a good solution to skills shortages, and 22% favor the hiring of older workers over college leavers as a solution to staffing problems.

According to Andy Raynor, CEO of Tenon:

Changes to pensions legislation, combined with the recent age discrimination legislation, are encouraging people to put their retirement on hold and continue working in some capacity, either as full-time or part-time employees, or as consultants. Older members of staff can bring huge benefits to an organisation and we expect to see more and more entrepreneurial businesses taking a flexible approach to recruitment and utilising this valuable skills base.

Source: Tenon Group Press Release (May 6, 2008)

United Kingdom: Manufacturers Becoming More Positive about Hiring Older Workers

A report issued by EEF, the manufacturers' organisation finds that manufacturers in the United Kingdom are adopting an increasingly positive attitude towards employing older workers in order to address the challenges posed by continued skills shortages and an ageing population. According to the report--"An Ageing Workforce--How are manufacturers preparing?" (available to registered users)--manufacturers believe older workers are a valuable part of their workforce--more productive and less likely to be absent than younger workers--and that the more physical nature of manufacturing employment is not an impediment to the employment of older workers.

Sixty percent of the companies surveyed cited "loss of specialist skills" as a significant concern. EEF also reports that manufacturing companies are adopting pro-active approaches towards the use of flexible working and managing rehabilitation: rehabilitation and return to work policies are standard in 58% of companies, rising to over 80% of firms employing 250 people or more. In addition, flexible working hours are standard in nearly two fifths of companies with half of companies employing 100 or more people having flexible working in place.

Sources: EEF, the manufacturers' organisation Media Release (April 20, 2008); The Birmingham Post "Employers outline value of experience" (April 24, 2008)

Employers Becoming More Proactive in Hiring, Retaining Workers over 50

RetirementJobs.com has issued the results of research that it has conducted findings that the environment for U.S. workers over 50 years of age, and consequent employee and job seeker perceptions, have improved and become "age friendlier" in the past year. As part of its process of certifying companies for its "Age Friendly Certified Employer," RetirementJobs.com has seen an "ongoing, encouraging trend that U.S. employers are increasingly embracing the value of age 50+ workers—as evidenced through increased hiring, support of age as an element of diversity HR programs, affirmative action in providing meaningful employment, flexible work arrangements, training and development opportunities, and provision of competitive pay and benefits to ‘older’ workers."

In addition, its conclusions are bolstered by the findings of its 2008 "Age Bias in the American Workforce" Research Report that will be issued later this quarter.

Source: RetirementJobs.com Press Release (April 14, 2008)

Research: Aging Workforce Requires Business to Rethink Working Lives

Early research into the effects of an extended working life and the challenges and opportunities that an older workforce will generate suggests that--in terms of job performance, wellbeing and skills--older workers are a much less homogenous group than younger workers. According to Professor Philip Taylor, director of the Business, Work and Ageing Centre for Research at Swinburne University of Technology, there is an increasing variation in people’s abilities as they get older and management may need to hink in terms of preparing workers when they are younger, for a longer working life.

"Policy around ageing workers needs to be about maintaining the ‘work ability’ of people throughout their life-course--not just once they are older," Professor Taylor says. "It’s about life-long learning and about how factors such as job design, work environment and skills training determine the condition in which workers arrive at the age of 50."

Among other things, Taylor says that the assumption that older workers are not interested in, or capable of, further training, is baseless, but there is evidence that "older workers prefer a different style of training than younger workers. For instance, they prefer hands-on practical training rather than classroom-style training."

Professor Taylor says another major issue for older workers is a sense of exclusion from the workplace. "Our research shows that older workers often feel they are being pushed out by not being invited to take part in training, meetings or other workplace events." This will become an increasing issue as more workers take advantage of transition-to-retirement arrangements that allow them to work part-time. "Part-time work is often not seen as real work. Managers need to be re-educated to respect different kinds of working arrangements and accept that older workers have a great deal to contribute to the workplace."

Source: Swinburne Magazine "Longer work life needs management re-think" (March 2008)

Also, see Philip Taylor (Editor), Ageing Labour Forces: Promises and Prospects (2008)

Poland: Older Workers Offer Solution to Demographic Challenge, but Must Overcome Prejudices Against Them

Following on the Polish government's proposals to help make people over the age of 50 more active in the workforce, the Warsaw Business Journal has published an article looking at the demographic challenge facing the Polish labor market. While noting that older workers could be what employers are looking for--offering experience, loyalty and flexibility, the article also suggests that "first the significant obstacle of prejudice must be overcome."

Only 41.5% of people aged 50 to 64 were professionally active in 2006, making Poland's employment rate for this group one of the lowest in the European Union, only beating out Malta. According to an Ipsos Poland survey done for Academy for the Development of Philanthropy (ARFwP), high unemployment in the 1990's and the beginning of the 2000's decade forced a large number of older people to exit the workforce in order to accommodate the younger generation, a trend that was further increased by high labor costs.

According to the Warsaw Business Journal article, labor market experts believe "the government's program is not enough to retain seniors in the workforce or lure them back." Instead, Poland needs a wide range of coordinated initiatives, such as the development of NGOs that would specialize in issues facing older people, such as the AARP in the United States.

On another front, employers also need to show more good will and flexibility in the employment of seniors. However, mere sympathy and pity are not arguments which appeal to entrepreneurs, according to Joanna Tokarz, project coordinator at ARFwP. She is quoted as saying: "The employer has to think in terms of the market, and they should be shown the benefits of employing over-50s in the first place." To enable this ARFwP has launched a project called Zysk z dojrzałości ("Profit from Maturity") in cooperation with Britain's Beth Johnson Foundation, to promote "age friendly" strategies and age-management solutions among employers.

Source: Warsaw Business Journal "Veteran workforce" (March 3, 2008)

United Kingdom: Report Finds Older People Want to Work or Start Businesses

According to a report commissioned by PRIME and written by the economist Christopher Smallwood, some 800,000 people in the United Kingdom between 50 and state pension age are currently inactive but want to work. The report--"Improving Employment Prospects for the Over 50s"--also finds that the majority of new businesses are created by people in their 40s and 50s and that Companies started by older people have a 70% chance of surviving the first five years, compared with only 28% for younger people.

“It is worth putting real money behind a drive to re-employ economically inactive over-50s”, says the report’s author Christopher Smallwood.

“In order to reintroduce them to the workforce, two things are needed: (1) widespread changes in employers’ practices relating to training, retention and recruitment, and (2) a more proactive approach from Government agencies to help people back to work, particularly in the area of self-employment.”

The report says that while there are still a greater number of complaints about age discrimination in the workplace than about any other form of discrimination, a change in employer attitudes and practices of employers, together with a greater focus on the possibilities for self-employment, would do more than additional legislation.

An executive summary of the report is also available.

Source: PRIME Business Club News Release (January 14, 2008)

Conference Board Suggests Strategic Business Opportunity in Reinventing Aging Workforce

According to a report from The Conference Board, despite warnings of disaster tied to the impending retirement of the first wave of baby boomers, smart companies can actually benefit from this change in the workforce if they plan carefully. Specifically, companies need to analyze their own employee data. Mary B. Young, Senior Research Associate, The Conference Board, and author of the report, says that is "the only way to accurately forecast whether aging and retirement will impact their workforce and, if so, exactly when and where. Once employers know that, they can take the appropriate actions, rather than under- or over-reacting."

Based on a case-study methodology to investigate the aging workforce and its ramifications, the report--"Gray Skies, Silver Linings: How Companies are Forecasting, Managing, and Recruiting a Mature Workforce"--draws several practical conclusions:

• Organizations can use strategic workforce planning to assess the impact of approaching retirements on their ability to execute business strategy;
• Companies that effectively manage mature workers treat them with respect, discern their needs rather than making assumptions, and offer such benefits as flexible work arrangements, affinity groups, and financial and retirement planning;
• Recruiting mature workers may not even be on the radar screen for some companies, but it's a priority for employers who face a shrinking supply of younger workers, or who want a workforce that mirrors their mature customer base;
• Knowledge transfer from mature and/or retiring workers to younger staff is key to preparing for inevitable retirements; and
• Through partnerships with other employers, government programs and nonprofits, companies can get more bang for their buck when forecasting, managing and recruiting mature workers.

Source: Conference Board Press Release (December 13, 2007)

United Kingdom: Extensive Research Study Highlights Employers' Approach to Older Workers

A qualitative study looking at how United Kingdom employers are responding to an ageing workforce carried out by the Centre for Research into the Older Workforce (CROW) and published by the Department of Work and Pensions suggests that most employers say they have positive attitudes to older workers, although they are more reluctant to recruit the over-50s and training seems to tail off for this group. Many employers claim to prefer older workers to younger ones, because of their attitudes to work and their experience. Small firms were particularly likely to keep older people on after State Pension Age.

The study--"Employer Responses to an Ageing Workforce"--was authored by Professor Stephen McNair, Director of CROW, Matt Flynn and Nina Dutton and is based on in-depth interviews with either a senior human resource (HR) manager or a general manager at one of 70 firms, across nine occupational sectors, with a wide geographical spread. According to the summary introduction to this 188-page report:

This study has found that awareness of the Age Regulations is high among employers and that, in general, most are sympathetic to avoiding age discrimination in the workplace, although many do not make the connection between this and business needs, partly perhaps because they are unaware of long term demographic trends. Attitudes towards 'older' workers were generally positive, while young people were viewed more negatively and rarely seen as victims of age discrimination. There was a good deal of change in HR practices generally, but rarely as a sole result of the Regulations. Positive practices on retention of existing workers were much more common than active policies on recruitment. Employers were most likely to be anxious about the implementation of the new provisions on retirement, and the management challenges which this might present. In this area defensive responses appeared sometimes to be having the opposite effect to that intended by Government. The attempt to minimise risk and workloads for managers was a common theme. Within the limitations of the sample interviewed, there was no evidence of regional variation in employer behaviour.

Source: Department for Work and Pensions Research Report No 455--"Employer responses to an ageing workforce: a qualitative study" (September 27, 2007)

Manpower Inc. and Schneider National Certified as "Age Friendly" Employers

RetirementJobs.com has independently evaluated and bestowed its "Age Friendly Employer" Certification upon two Wisconsin-based companies: Manpower Inc. and Schneider National, Inc. Certification indicates an employer’s recognition of the value of age 50+ workers, as well as its commitment to take affirmative action in providing meaningful employment, development opportunities and competitive pay and benefits. These two companies join such previously certified national employers as H&R Block, Marriott, REI, Robert Half International, Safeway, and Staples.

Employers who’ve earned RetirementJobs.com Age Friendly Employer Certification must have demonstrated consistent performance on twelve criteria which define best practices that effectively retain and attract a mature workforce to the employer.

Source: RetirementJobs.com Press Release (August 9, 2007)

Survey: Do Employers Really Want Older Workers?

Even though the policy community generally thinks that employers will create opportunities for employees to work longer, with many observers saying that because employers will face labor shortages and a loss of “institutional intelligence” when the boomers exit the labor force, employers will be pushed to seek out older workers, results of a new survey raise a cautionary flag.

As part of continuing research performed by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, a survey of nationally representative employers has found that employers generally considered older workers at least as attractive as younger workers and a second survey has found that employers expect that half their employees over age 50 will lack the resources needed to retire at their organization’s traditional retirement age and half of those who lack resources will want to work at least two years longer than similar workers have in the past.

However, further examination of the second survey in "Employers Lukewarm About Retaining Older Workers", by Andrew D. Eschtruth, Steven A. Sass, and Jean-Pierre Aubry, states that employers "are only slightly more likely than not to accommodate even half their employees who will want to stay on." The paper concludes:

For working longer to become a viable response to the retirement income challenge, workers must be willing to extend their careers and employers must be willing to employ them. The results from the Center’s surveys of employers paint a mixed picture about the prospects for longer worklives. Employers surveyed expect one quarter of workers currently in their 50s will be unprepared for retirement and will respond by wanting to stay on the job at least two years past the firm’s traditional retirement age. But employers are lukewarm about retaining even half. This is not good news. It suggests the possibility of a messy and uncomfortable mismatch with large numbers of older workers wanting to stay on while employers prefer that they do not.

Source: Boston College Center for Retirement Research
Issues in Brief (May 2007)

Do Employers Want to Hire Older Workers?

Following the lead of a New Yorker cartoon, Robert Powell writes in MarketWatch that "work--for many Americans--is the new retirement plan." He cites the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College report to suggest, however, that some employers do not want older employees: "Specifically, small employers, those with 100 or fewer employees, and large employers, those with 1,000 or more employees, as well as "young" organizations are generally less fond of older workers be they white-collar or rank-and-file."

According to Bob Morison, executive vice president of The Concours Group, "older workers are, indeed, more satisfied with their jobs, better adjusted on the job, and more engaged in their work and with their employers than the young or midcareer cohorts are," but 4 in 10 employers say older workers are more expensive than someone younger. Morison suggests that employers could reduce the cost of hiring older workers if they focus on Medicare-eligible prospects:

"The cost picture changes dramatically for working retirees who have reached the Medicare eligibility age or who have already retired with health benefits covered," he said. "Providing a bit of supplemental coverage for workers in this category is much cheaper than providing more extensive benefits to younger employees. A smart company hires the other guy's well-benefited retirees."

Source: MarketWatch "Older workers win praise, but winning jobs is another matter" (July 14, 2006)

Survey: Employer Attitudes towards Older Workers

Older workers have reasonably good prospects for extending their working careers according to a new survey of employers by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Employer Attitudes towards Older Workers: Survey Results, Issues in Brief No. 3, authored by Alicia H. Munnell (the Center's director), Steven A. Sass, and Mauricio Soto, reports that 80% of employers said older workers were “as attractive” or “more attractive” than younger employees.

While Munnell said “the survey results are encouraging given that many people nearing traditional retirement ages will need to work longer to ensure their retirement income security,” the survey results also raise two important cautions. First, older rank-and-file workers, who face the greatest retirement income challenge, appear to have weaker employment prospects than older white-collar workers. Second, other surveys have shown that positive evaluations of the productiv¬ity of older workers do not necessarily translate into actual employment opportunities.

Source: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College Press Release (July 11, 2006)

United Kingdom: Report On Employer Practices Relating to Age

The Department for Work and Pensions, in conjunction with the Department of Trade and Industry, has issued "Survey of employers’ policies, practices and preferences" (Research Report 325), which explores the extent to which current employment policies and practices accord with equal opportunity with respect to age.

The report provides findings from a quantitative survey of around 2000 employers in Great Britain, and was designed as a baseline to evaluate the effects of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations that take effect in 2006. It provides information on practices relating to equal opportunities, pay and benefits, retirement, recruitment, appraisal, training, promotion and redundancy as well as attitudes and awareness.

Source: Press Release Department for Work and Pensions (March 9, 2006)