Retaining Older Workers

The UK is suffering one of the longest recessions on record and the U.S. has one of the highest unemployment rates in decades. Although unemployment has come down slightly in past few months, one of the main problems is long-term youth unemployment. The main reason behind the sustained level of youth unemployment is a lack of jobs generally, but particularly a lack of apprenticeships.

However, another reason that has been put forward by some is that older workers are staying in the workplace longer than they have in the past and are thus preventing the younger generation from getting a foot on the employment ladder. This may or may not be true and correlation does not prove causation of course. That is to say just because more older workers are staying in their jobs does not mean that younger generation are being held back. In any instance, retaining older workers can yield many benefits for a business, some of which are outlined below…

Experience

Older workers by virtue of their age have more experience than younger workers. This not only includes actual work experience but also older workers have more life experience. This can prove invaluable in a huge number of situations including how they interact with other staff, how they handle customers or clients and how they conduct themselves within the business. In addition, life experience can often be readily translated into work skills. For example a Mum returning to the work place can apply skills used in managing a family to managing an office.

Reliability

Stating that older workers are more reliable than younger workers is a sweeping generalisation of course. However if you look statistically at companies that employ more older workers they do tend to suffer less staff absenteeism and retain their staff longer. According to the research cited, older workers are less likely to have money and relationship pressures.

Staff Retention

Older workers are also less likely to move between companies compared to their younger counterparts. Research conducted by UK building society Nationwide found that their staff turnover for older staff was 4% compared to 10% for younger workers. Staff in their 50 and 60’s were likely to stay at the company for an average of 13 years.

Mentoring

Older workers are also a great way to mentor younger staff. Those with life experience can share their knowledge and skills with those who are new to the workplace. Through their maturity they can help instill confidence in younger workers.

About the Author:

This article was written by Simon, owner of retirement site Annuity City. They can help you with getting the best annuity quotes.