"Older people: age & experience" (Business English)

1   Demographics    usually    proves    a powerful force for  change  in the business- world,   and   the   rapidly ageing world population looks likely to continue the pattern. By the year 2050, according to the International Labour Organisation, the number of people aged over 60 will rise from 600m to 2bn. In less than 50 years, for the first time in history, there will be more people in the world over the age of 60 than under the age of 15. All this has profound implications (strong influence/effect) for employers and, says the ILO, should provide an incentive (something that encourages you to work harder) for companies to fight     age     discrimination     and accommodate older workers, creating challenging   careers   to   persuade them to stay in their jobs longer.

2       However, changing demographics alone are unlikely to spark (to cause) drastic changes in corporate policies and practices   towards   older   workers. John    Atkinson,    who    runs    the Unemployment and Labour Market Disadvantage   programme   at   the Institute for Employment  Studies, says legislation is likely to provide a sharper stick with which to prod companies into action (to stimulate). In the UK, for example,      the      government      is committed   to   implementing (introducing)  age legislation   under   the    European Directive on Equal Treatment.

3       The exact form the new rules will take is not yet clear, but it is thought likely  that  it  will  be  similar  to existing   legislation   on   race   and gender. 'It wasn't until the law came in that most employers pulled their socks  up  (to try harder) and  started  to  take  it seriously,' says Mr Atkinson. 'So the best employers are thinking about their policies and practices towards age, but the vast majority are not.'

4      And yet, as savvy (sb who is clever and knows how to deal with situations successfully) companies have realised,     positive     policies     and practices on age diversity make good business   sense.   Because   of   the nature of  its business,  B&Q,  the British DIY  (do it yourself) retailer, has found that having older workers on its staff has enhanced sales and customer loyalty. Older employees often have a basic knowledge of DIY, and customers, who tend to associate older people with   this   knowledge,   feel   com­fortable asking their advice.

5       And for sectors such as financial services, the age profile of customers means it makes business sense to increase the average age of sales teams. Changing demographics was part of the reason that Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) re-evaluated its diversity  programmes.   An   ageing population was driving a need to put a   greater   focus   on   savings   and retirement plans and the release of capital tied up in property - and at least half of the bank's customers are  now  over  the  age  of   50.   In response, the HBOS group policy was altered  to   allow  people   to  work beyond  the  traditional  retirement age of 60 or 62.

6      But permitting employees to work beyond traditional retirement age is one thing.  It  is  quite  another to persuade them to remain in work -particularly when private pensions and savings and the possibility of buying  a  house  in  the  south  of France provide a tempting alterna­tive. Indeed, many workers, rather than staying on, are retiring early -either through desire or because of poor health.

7      At   the   same   time,    changing demographics      present      another challenge for employers that hope to persuade their staff to remain with the company for longer. In a world where    a    higher    proportion    of employees are older, there will no longer be a sufficient (enough) supply of the sort of senior management positions that were once the goal of many in the workforce.

8       'People   tend   to   look   at   older employees when they talk about age,' says Michael Stuber, founder of Mist Consulting,      the      Cologne-based diversity  consultancy.   'What  they often ignore is that the main clientele are people who are today 38 to 45. They are growing older and they have made their careers with an idea that they should be at a director's rank by the age of 43, otherwise they won't make it. And now it's obvious that, particularly in times of lean management,   they  cannot  all   be promoted to director level.'

9      With rates of promotion slowing and pay growth declining from about 35 onwards, working longer looks far less attractive than it did a couple of decades  ago.  'What used to be a manual worker's (blue-collars) earnings pattern -they   earned   their   most   at   their fittest, and their earnings declined as they got worn out - has become the pattern   for    everyone,'    says    Mr Atkinson. Given such trends, simply abolishing the formal retirement age and   removing   age   specifications from   recruitment    advertisements remain cosmetic initiatives. They fail to   address   a   deeper   underlying (not easily noticed) problem. That is the need to create an appealing working life for those growing  older  in  a  world  where career structures, rather than being vertical,    will    look    increasingly horizontal.

Download audio.

Source: "Market Leader" Advanced