Older Workers Are Often Preferred to Younger Ones Because They Perform Better

Gary Geyer writes in 50plus Online Magazine reports that many companies are now looking to hire older workers because among other things, they often perform better than younger ones. Not only have they discovered that older workers often perform better on the job, they are more likely to be loyal to a company—not quitting after a few years. Turnover rate for workers over 50 is just one tenth that of those under 30. Conventional wisdom was that hiring older workers would be more costly, what with more medical problems and missed workdays. More and more companies are realizing that that is not the case. They find that training, recruitment costs and time spent learning are much lower for older workers, so the difference in costs are negligible.

Source: "Older Workers Wanted," 50plus Online Magazine (May 20, 2005)