Soon companies will have no choice but to recruit older workers as the average age of workers has increased from 35 to almost 40. The only sectors with the average age of workers being lower are retailing, accommodation and restaurants.

Many employers believe (rightly or wrongly) that older workers cost more because of sick leave, are more resistant to organisational change, represent an opportunity lost where a younger employee may stay for longer, lack adaptability in relation to training and tecnology and need more sophisticated training and study options.

employers who look to employ older workers need to offer opportunities to share jobs, work less than full-time or encourage switches to roles with less stress, less responsibility and better training outcomes. Some of the benefits of older workers are reliability, punctuality, positive work ethic, wealth of life and work experience and wisdom.

Companies that have been identified by the Federal Government as good role models include Aurora Energy, Coates Hire, Magnet Mart, Socobell and Westpac.

Currently, men over 45 remain unemployed for an average of 64 weeks compared with 29 weeks for younger workers. While 97% of employers claim to be prepared to employ someone over 45, fewer than 35% had actually done so.

BRW, Oct 6-12, 2005, pg 21.