AARP Issues Report on Job Training for Older Workers in Alabamat

According to AARP, over the past five years, 59% of Alabama workers age 40 and over have participated in job-related skills training or education programs offered to them by an employer, and 86% of them indicate they personally have not had to pay for that training. These are some of the results of a survey commissioned by AARP to gain a deeper understanding of the perspective, skills, and needs of older workers in the state to better provide them with focused, targeted information and resources.

The full report "Job Skills Training and Opportunities: Opinions and Perceptions of Alabama Workers Age 40+", authored by Jennifer H. Sauer and Cassandra Burton, also finds that 86% of older workers are satisfied with the work-related training opportunities offered through their employers, with 60% saying they are extremely or very satisfied, and another 26% indicating they are somewhat satisfied. Looking forward, 51% said they were extremely or very likely to engage in any job training through their employer over the next five years, but 31% said they were not likely to do so. In addition, 52% did not think that additional job training would help them advance in their job or help get a better job.

On worker attitudes towards employment as they get older, the survey reports that, among all Alabama workers and those looking for work, 40% plan to continue working at their current job either full or part-time when they reach retirement age. "For the majority of respondents, needing or wanting additional income (84%), enjoying work (84%), building up a personal savings (79%), and maintaining health coverage for themselves or their families (72%) are major/minor factors in deciding to work beyond retirement."

Source: AARP Knowledge Management Survey Report (October 2009)

United Kingdom: Study Finds Lack of Training and Learning Opportunities for Older Workers

The University of Leicester's Centre for Labour Market Studies has released a study with a stark warning about the lack of training and learning opportunities for older workers. The report--"Older Workers – Older Learners"--prepared for the Learning and Skills Council East Midlands shows "show the lack of preparedness that the region and society as a whole have towards the ageing of our workforce and of society more generally. Yet the ageing workforce is one of the more valuable assets a business can have."

According to Dr. Vanessa Beck, who led the project, while it was disappointing to find the lack of preparedness and the extent to which learning and training opportunities were taken up, "it was surprising to see that on an individual and organisational level, there are a whole host of practices in place that can benefit older workers as well as the organisations that employ them."

Practices and policies already in place that could, in some form, benefit older workers include flexible working; Apprenticeships enabling them to move into different areas of work; structured learning and training supported by the Train to Gain service, Skills Pledge, Skills Accounts, and Foundation Degrees accrediting expertise older learners already have; reward systems; and positive age awareness management.

Older workers are valued for their experience and expertise, knowledge which can be passed on to younger colleagues either formally through apprenticeship assessment or informally as mentors in the workplace.

Source: University of Leicester Press Release (March 10, 2009)

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)

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)

Malaysia: Older Workers Less Confident about Future; Government Encourages Retraining

While a large majority of Malaysians feel safe in their present jobs, confidence declines with age. According to a Gallup International Association poll, 84% of Malaysians were optimistic about their job security with only Norway (85%) scoring higher in a survey of 61 countries. However, only two in 10 respondents over 51 years old thought they could find a job fairly quickly compared to four out of 10 of those below 30 years.

In response to the Gallup survey, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Fong Chan Onn said that employers need to continuously retrain their workers to keep them relevant, especially the older ones who are set in their ways. Fong suggests that this can help them to adapt to technological and work habit changes. According to a story by Teresa Yong in THe New Straits Times, Fong said: "It is very important for employers to continue retraining and upgrading the expertise of the older group of workers. We also need to re-orientate all categories of workers." Fong also advised older workers to adopt lifelong learning and pointed out that the Human Resources Development Bhd had training programmes for workers of all ages.

Sources: Malaysia Today "Malaysians score high in survey" (January 15, 2008); The New Straits Times "Keep older workers relevant through retraining, employers told" (January 16, 2008)

Corporations and Universities Helping Train Older Workers for New Careers

Writing in U.S. News and World Report, Kim Clark reports on the rising demographic tide of older students in universities, as a growing number of colleges, charities, companies, and governments are accommodating and encouraging adults who return to the classroom.

Among other things, Clark tells about an IBM prgorma, launched in 2005, that pays older staffers interested in becoming science or math teachers up to $15,000 apiece for tuition and time off for student teaching. This program is now being emulated in California with the establishment of EnCorps, which relies on partners in the commercial sector to recruit, train, and prepare retiring employees to pursue alternate careers as math and science teachers.

While IBM has, more recently, extended its program to pay for training older workers who want to "retire" into other public-service jobs, other employers are focusing more dollars on educating older workers in an effort to keep them from retiring. Thus, for example, Clark writes: "United Technologies Corp. is paying for all tuition and up to three hours off a week for any accredited college class. What's more, older students who get a degree are given a graduation present of $10,000 in utc stock."

Source: U.S. News & World Report "Heading Back to College Universities are doing more than ever to attract older students" (October 26, 2007)

Canada: Federal-Provincial Partnerships To Help Retrain Unemployed Older Workers

The Canadian Deparemtn of Economic Development and British Columbia signed the Canada-British Columbia Agreement on the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers (TIOW). This agreement will allow British Columbia communities to design and deliver projects and services that will help unemployed older workers retrain for new careers. It is anticipated that these community-based projects will help at least 1,200 workers in British Columbia to upgrade their skills, benefit from job counseling, and gain work experience.

Similarly, the Governments of Quebec and Canada will jointly contribute $568,000 to facilitate the reintegration into employment of older workers in the Centre-du-Québec region who have been affected by plant closures or downsizing, particularly in the furniture and clothing industries. According to the estimates of Emploi-Québec, which manages the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers, this amount will help to reintegrate 72 older works into employment over the next few months.

Source: Government of Canada News Release (October 11, 2007); News Release (October 11, 2007)

Ireland: Report Calls for Abolition of Mandatory Retirement

A call for an end to mandatory retirement was one of the key recommendations of the Senior Select Retain & Retrain partnership as part of its final report--"More than just a Number, Older workers in Ireland." “The impact which compulsory retirement has on people cannot be underestimated,” Age Action chief executive Robin Webster said that “[c]ompulsory retirement ages, whether in the public service or not, should be removed. It would not only give workers who wish to continue working the option to do so, but would also enable employers retain some of their most experienced and valuable staff.”

The partnership consists of Age Action, FAS, ICTU, PARTAS and Contact Recruitment, and was funded by the EU Equal Community Initiative. Other recommendations of the final report include:

• Those who are made redundant or leave the workforce should be provided with the information they need to help them make this transition;
• In facilitating diversity in the workplace, it is essential that in-company age awareness training become a routine part of good HR practice, also leading to an improvement in inter-generational communications within companies;
• Older workers need to be assisted in knowing how to sell their experiences and validate their competencies, regardless of formal qualifications;
• employers need to examine work practices and make flexible work arrangements available, inclduing part-time work;
• older workers should benefit equally from access to training and courses should be more geared towards their personal and professional development;
• there is a need for a one-stop shop for employment services for older people.

According to the Minister of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, the recommendations bear serious consideration by policy-makers, practitioners and decision-makers: "Dissemination of the findings of the project’s work and of the lessons learned will be invaluable both in the policy making process and in generating public awareness generally of the issues involved."

Sources: Age Action Ireland "Time has come to abolish the mandatory retirement age" (October 4, 2007); The Irish Times "Call for end to mandatory retirement age" (October 4, 2007); Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Address by Minister Michael Martin at the “Experience has a Future” Conference (October 4, 2007)

Additional Resources: Senior Select Retain and Retrain "Older Workers & Employment Agencies in Ireland" (September 2007)

U.S. Labor Department Funds Pilot Projects To Help Older Workers Gain and Maintain Employment

The U.S. Department of Labor awarded four organizations more than $3.1 million to support pilot programs designed to benefit older workers. Grantees will partner with local entities, including One-Stop Career Centers, employers, community colleges and other educational institutions, to provide older workers with skills-based job training. Certain programs also will allow participants to earn wages while learning a new career and/or provide both older workers and employers with information and skills training designed to foster productive relationships between the two groups.

Source: Department of Labor News Release (October 1, 2007)

Survey Shows Flexibility of Older Workers, Openness to New Tasks

Research conducted in the United Kingdom by Talent Q, shows that older workers can often be the most flexible--that as people get older they become increasingly willing to take on new tasks and more varied roles. The research, based on in-depth analysis of over 5,700 workers, challenges the common preconception that older workers are unwilling to accommodate change and that they may be unresponsive to new challenges presented in the workplace.

In other findings, the study showed that older workers are happy to work on their own and take a leading role without the need for much guidance, and that they demonstrate a high level of ability in building successful working relationships with colleagues, clients and suppliers. "While it was shown that workers in their fifties and sixties are much less ambitious than their younger colleagues, this is probably just an indication that they have already achieved their goals or have decided that they are happy with their lot in life."

Steve O’Dell, chief executive of Talent Q, said: “Older people in the workplace might sometimes be viewed as being stuck in their ways and a little less sharp. Our research gives a very different perspective.

“Talent Q found that older workers are less preoccupied about climbing the career ladder and that they tend to be happy, fulfilled and confident. As a result, they are glad to take on new work or projects, and aren’t unduly phased by lots of changes. They tend to plough on regardless--a fact that employers are quickly discovering can be a real benefit to their business."

Source: Taent Q Age Research (September 5, 2007)

United Kingdom: TUC Debates Accessibility to Training for Older Workers

In a web-based debate, TUC assistant general secretary Kay Carberry told her audience that "We need to look at the upper age limit for funding apprenticeships, because most apprenticeship funding at the moment is largely limited to people under 25." Instead of taking the "mistaken" view that once you’ve been around for a few decades that’s it, Carberry said that the priorities were to scrutinise everything that happens in the workplace to make sure that it ‘s free of age discrimination and to train older workers--give them more opportunities than they’ve got now.

Carberry was participating in a live tele-cast debate sponsored by Equal-works on the topic of "The value of experience: older workers, their importance and their rights".

Some employers felt it wasn’t worth investing in training older workers because they weren’t going to be around that long. This was a misconception, she said. It was also wrong to think "that older workers aren’t going to be susceptible to learning new skills because they ‘re getting a bit doddery and they’re getting a bit slow.

"I think there are a lot of people who have worked in one particular field, who get into their late 50’ s early 60’s, don’t want to carry on doing that particular kind of work but would welcome the opportunity to do something a little bit different and quite often they don’t get that opportunity maybe with the same employer, maybe voluntary work.

"What the unions are concerned about is that older workers or workers in other age ranges are not viewed as an undifferentiated lump. We would like to see public policy more finely attuned to individuals needs."

Source: Further Education News "TUC Asst Gen Sec: End discrimination against older workers and open up training to them" (August 11, 2007)

Survey: Mature Workers Most Likely To Use Communication Tools in the Workplace

In its eighth annual survey of top business issues and evolving workplace trends that impact employers and employees, Ranstad USA reveals a divergence between generations’ use of and resistance to particular communication tools in the workplace. In its World of Work 2007" survey, Randstad focused on employee productivity, retention and morale and found that, in 2007, employees’ efficiency and output replaced technology as the key source of productivity gains.

With respect to older workers, the survey had two intererstng findings. First, with respect to use of workplace communication tools:

Gen Y, the youngest generation with a reputation for being technologically savvy, is overall the least likely to use communication tools in the workplace, including computers, faxes, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile and landline phones. The “power-users” proved to be the Matures, the oldest generation, who were well into middle age when the personal computer was introduced, and the youngest of whom were 50 years of age when business discovered the Internet.

Second, with respect to the retiring boomer generation:

However, the generations who stand to benefit the most from the job opportunities care the least. Half of Gen X and merely 36 percent of Gen Y employees feel the shortage is a reality compared to Matures and Boomers, at 69 and 68 percent respectively.

Source: Ranstad USA Press Release (June 25, 2007)

Canada: Report on Workforce Development Challenges in Ontario

Colleges Ontario's "2007 Environmental Scan" provides an analysis of economic trends in Ontario and suggests there is an urgent need for a comprehensive skills and workforce development strategy to increase the province’s competitiveness.

Among other things, the report says that by 2015, the number of young people will begin to decline resulting in a greater demand on people already in the workforce to have skills and knowledge that are current and effective. The industries to be hit first by the declining youth population will be those employing young workers, such as accommodation and food services, retail, information, and culture and recreation. On the other end of the age spectrumm, sectors that employ older workers, including health care, manufacturing, energy, and the public sector will be hit by the retirement boom as the first of the baby boomers reach the age of 65 years starting in 2011.

“As the economy relies more heavily on older workers, skills upgrading and retraining for existing workers will continue to grow in importance,” said [Linda Franklin, President and CEO of Colleges Ontario]. “The fact is too many people don’t have the right skills for the jobs that are available. And those working will require continuous education and re-training throughout their lives to update and transform their skill sets to use new technology and meet new needs.”

Source: Colleges Ontario News Release (June 19, 2007)

United Kingdom: Older Workers More Responsible about their Own Training

In its annual survey of learning at work, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) reports that, among other things, The older the worker, the more likely they are to feel responsible for their own training and development. According Practice Makes Perfect: A NIACE briefing on learning at work, when asked where the main responsibility for the training and development of workers lay--with the worker, their employer, or shared between, only 28% of the youngest workers, aged 17-19, felt the main responsibility lay with themselves, whilst 41% of 55 plus employees thought they bore the main responsibility.

Source: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education Press Release (May 24, 2007)

United Kingdom: Minister Addresses Learning and Older Workers

In a speech to the Associate Parliamentary Skills Group, Bill Rammell--Minister of State for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning--addressed the Leitch Review of Skills and specifically the challenge to engage older workers in obtaining the skills they need to succeed, given that those 50 and older are less likely than younger people to be interested in learning and tend to have fewer formal qualifications.

Rammell said that "the government is taking the needs of this group seriously" and that "[e[mployers must draw on the full range of skills and talents of the whole of the workforce" and, in fact, "will have to attract older people in order to support their own future growth." He addressed a number of government initiatives, but he rejected any need (as expressed in the Skills Forum report) to recognise that older workers learn in a different way to everyone else, a difference that should be recognised in qualification design and teaching methods: "[A]s someone approaching the accepted lower age limit for an older worker I find the idea slightly insulting. We can’t lump all older learners together to be treated differently from everyone else."

In concluding, Rammell said that he is optimistic about promoting and communicating our policies and programmes to all adults regardless of age. "It is easy to point to lower participation rates for older workers than for younger ones. But the situation is changing. Over the last 10 years the number of learners in Further Education aged 60 and above has more than doubled--from 113,000 in 1997 to almost 270,000 today." In addition, "[a]s greater numbers of older people remain in, or return to, the workforce I expect this to increase further, not least because most training is through employers."

Source: Department for Education and Skills Speech (April 25, 2007)

Oasis Institute Receives Grant To Increase Technology Skills of Older Workers

The AT&T Foundation has made a $1 million AT&T AccessAll grant to the OASIS Institute to expand the Institute's "Excellence in Technology Partnership" to help mature adults in more communities develop the skills, resources and confidence to use technology effectively in their personal lives and in the workforce. Through OASIS classes, individuals learn how to use e-mail and word processing, create spreadsheets, conduct Internet searches, and protect their privacy and security online.

When Lynn Schanz decided to go back to work at age 55, she realized pretty quickly that she needed computer skills to succeed. Through her local OASIS center in Indianapolis, she signed up for a few computer skills classes such as an introduction to the Internet and using Microsoft Word. Developing basic technology skills gave her the confidence to apply for job opportunities, and her determination paid off when she landed a job with an eye therapist's office.

Source: Oasis Institute News Release (March 14, 2007)

Research Suggests Older Female Employees Less Likely To Receive Training Help

According to research conducted by Dr. Almuth McDowall, professor of occupational psychology at the University opf Surrey, employees who are female and over 50 are more likely to miss out on training opportunities in the workplace than younger male employees because HR managers see older women as offering a poor return on investment.

McDowall presented experienced HR managers in 48 companies with a series of fictional vignettes to test out their decision-making when allocating funding for training and development. When asked to allocate a notional budget of £6000 across four employees and justify their decisions, the characters in the scenarios who were female and over 50 received far less of the available budget than younger male characters; the HR managers justified their decisions in terms of older employees and women being less "investment-worthy" perceiving them to offer a lower return on investment.

In presenting her initial results to the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology Annual Conference, McDowall was quoted as saying "HR managers simply do not recognise they are discriminating against older workers but there is a clear bias towards younger workers when it comes to training." In addition, Richard Smelt, group HR director at Carphone Warehouse, responded with surpise: "I certainly can't see HR managers deliberately discriminating against older workers, but maybe there's a perception that older employees will be more expensive and difficult to train."

Source: Press Release British Psychological Society (January 12, 2007); Personnel Today "HR believes older staff offer 'lower return on investment' in training" (January 16, 2007)

Singapore: Study Shows Employers Prefer To Train Younger Employees

According to an article in Today by Lee U-Wen, a recent study by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) shows that older workers are being looked over in training opportunities, with companies, instead, prefering to train their younger, more nimble workers.

"This is ... due to the higher opportunity cost or the narrower time horizon of reaping the benefits out of the training programme," said the report, the most extensive study since MOM first tracked training participation back in 2000 and involved some 2,400 people.

Singapore Human Resource Institute executive director David Ang, one of several HR experts interviewed, suggests that companies should give priority to the rank-and-file workers, especially those caught in the web of structural unemployment; the older they get, the less their opportunity for training, but they need the skills more than anyone else so as not to remain stagnant.

Source: Today "Older workers overlooked" (January 12, 2007)

Survey: European Business Give Training Priority over Adapting Rewards to Older Workforce

According to a survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, 16% of European employers surveyed are planning to increase their investment in base salary rises in 2007, while 58% say they will spend more money on training and career development initiatives for their staff. Furthermore, just 11% of companies felt that adapting their employee rewards packages to meet the needs of an ageing workforce was an important challenge.

Mr [Peter] O'’Malley [Principal at Mercer] commented: "It is surprising that companies are not more concerned about adapting their rewards programmes to suit older workers. Many organisations rely heavily on the skills that their older, more experienced staff bring to the workplace, yet the rewards packages they offer do little to engage these employees."

Source: News Release (October 17, 2006)

Reverse Job Fairs for Older Workers

A “reverse” job fair has been held at the Metro Career Center in San Diego, at which job seekers 55 and older stood by while employers approached them to check job qualifications and to talk. The event was put on by Community Options, a federally funded group that has a program to help low-income older people with job training and placement, and by the Oasis Institute, a private nonprofit organization partially funded by a grant from AT&T that helps older individuals with career and education opportunities.

According to an article by Michael Kinsman, Community Options and Oasis teamed up to coach the workers on job-search skills and some personal computer training over a four-month period so they would qualify for a variety of jobs. Charlotte Tenney, a Community Options senior employment counselor said “We thought it might make a difference to teach job candidates how to sell themselves to the employer.” Tenney came up with the idea of having employers approach individuals: “We really wanted to try something different.”

Source:"At this job fair, older workers waited for employers to visit" San Diego Union-Tribune (May 7, 2006)

A Laid-off Older Worker Retrains

Barbara Rose, writing for the Chicago Tribune, tells the story of one 57-year-old worker has started to retrain his hands and his head for a new set of workplace skills after the Chicago lamp factory where he worked for decades closed in 2005. According to her article, he and other Cooper employees qualified for up to 2 1/2 years of unemployment benefits and training through the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program for workers who lose jobs to foreign competition, but that as few as 15% percent of Illinois workers who are eligible access the training.

"For older workers, a lot of them really question whether they can go back to school," said Rick McHugh, Midwest coordinator for the nonprofit National Employment Law Project.

Source: "Retooling a career, a life" Chicago Tribune (March 31, 2006)