Aequus Partners' Diversity and Flexibility e-newsletter, January 2010

Dear Colleagues

In this newsletter we look at the impact of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) on age discrimination in the workplace.

There is a live debate as to whether older or younger workers have been hit hardest by these turbulent economic times.  Recent European reports highlighted in this newsletter suggest contrary points of view.  Does it really matter anyway?  As we move into recovery mode perhaps the most strategic response is to assist both the top and tail of the workforce (eg by enabling training, skill and experience acquisition for younger workers, and addressing stereotypes, assumptions and workplace flexibility for older workers), as well as employers.

In particular we discuss:

1. EU report:  Discrimination in the EU in 2009 - Special Eurobarometer 317  Is there a connection between the external economic environments (like the Global Financial Crisis) and discrimination in the workplace? Do some minority groups experience greater levels of discrimination than others?  After analysing the current state of play in 30 European countries in 2009 in relation to gender, ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, age, disability, and sexual orientation, a recent report published by the European Commission has found that older citizens are much more likely to report age discrimination than previously.  In essence over half (58%) of Europeans are now of the view that age discrimination is widespread, a jump of 16 percentage points since 2008, making this the standout perception shift compared with other grounds of discrimination.
   
   
2. German research:  Who is hit hardest during a financial crisis?  The vulnerability of young men and women to unemployment in an economic downturn  Which employees are hit hardest during a financial crisis?  How does the 2009 Global Financial Crisis compare with previous financial crises?  Whilst most seem to have focussed on the impact of the financial crisis on older workers, a recent German report has found that young workers around the world have also been significantly impacted and continue to struggle even after economies begin to recover.  In essence, as young people lack skills and work experience, they are less likely to be hired, more likely to be laid off and even if hired, be employed in temporary jobs without the security of regular jobs.  The report explores the complex interaction of a number of factors contributing to the higher levels of youth unemployment compared to that of adults and recommends that governments should direct crisis interventions at assisting young workers in finding employment, entering the labour market and maintaining employment.
   
   
3. UK research:  An ageing workforce:  The employer’s perspective  How are employers responding to issues of health and the demand and need for flexibility by older workers?  What are the opportunities (eg for downshifting and job redesign) and obstacles to addressing the needs of older workers?  What is the extent of flexible work options available to older workers?  How are employers responding to the recent age discrimination legislation introduced in the UK?  A recent report published by the Institute for Employment Studies provides timely insights as we move from the GFC and into recovery-fuelled talent shortages.
   
   
4. AUS article preview:  Got a lot o’ livin’ to do - Opportunities for older workers in the Global Financial Crisis  An upcoming article in the Australian Bulletin of Labour will argue that Australian businesses favoured retaining skilled staff on reduced working hours instead of engaging in large scale restructuring and retrenchments, as a strategy to reduce labour costs during the 2009 financial crisis.  Moreover as older workers are more willing to accept these new working conditions, they are able to work with greater flexibility while employers retain valuable workplace skills.

1.  EU report:  Discrimination in the EU in 2009 - Special Eurobarometer 317

Intuitively we might assume that an economic environment (buoyant or turbulent) affects perceptions and experiences of discrimination, but is this really so?  Moreover if there is a connection between the external economic environment and discrimination, is all discrimination equal, ie do some minority groups experience greater levels of discrimination than others?  As we recover from the Global Financial Crisis attention is now focusing on which minority groups within countries are in need of support?  After analysing the current state of play in 30 European countries in 2009 in relation to gender, ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, age, disability, and sexual orientation, a recent report published by the European Commission has found that older citizens are much more likely to report age discrimination than previously.  In essence over half (58%) of Europeans are now of the view that age discrimination is widespread, a jump of 16 percentage points since 2008, making this the standout perception shift compared with other grounds of discrimination.  Whilst the report provides a rich source of information on all aspects of discrimination, this note focuses on these new findings regarding age.

1.1  Aim

Commissioned by the European Commission, the aim of the 2009 Eurobarometer survey report is to provide longitudinal and between country comparisons about perceptions of discrimination and inequality in the European Union.  New questions in the 2009 survey on the economic crisis aimed to test the impact of these turbulent times on six areas of discrimination, namely gender, ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, age, disability, and sexual orientation.

1.2  Method

First conducted in 2006 and then 2008, the 2009 Eurobarometer survey is the third in a series of discrimination related surveys commissioned by the European Commission DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities and conducted by TNS Opinion & Social network between May – June 2009.  In addition to the 27 EU countries, the survey also covered Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey.  The survey was completed by 26,756 European citizens in the candidate countries, aged 15 and over.  Comparisons were made between individual countries, over time (eg changes between 2006, 2008 and 2009) and individual groups.

1.3  Findings

Findings were made in relation to nine issues: (i) the European context; (ii) perceptions of discrimination; (iii) measurements of discrimination in Europe; (iv) media coverage; (v) personal efforts to combat discrimination; (vi) knowledge about rights; (vii) views on equal opportunities in employment; (viii) individual grounds of discrimination; and (ix) the impact of the economic crisis.

By way of background, ethnic origin is still perceived to be the most widespread form of discrimination in the EU (61%), followed by age discrimination (58%).  What stands out in the 2009 data however is the shift in perceptions about age discrimination between 2008 and 2009, namely Europeans “now far more often perceive discrimination on the grounds of age (+16 percentage points since 2008)”, whilst no significant change has occurred in relation to perceptions of ethnic discrimination.  Moreover, whilst more Europeans perceive that overall discrimination is less common than five years ago, age discrimination is perceived to be more widespread (up 9 percentage points).  Describing and understanding this “age” shift is the focus of the selected findings detailed below.

(i)  Experience of discrimination
Whilst 83% of Europeans reported that they did not feel discriminated against in the past year, 16% reported that they did feel personally discriminated against or harassed on the basis of at least one of the six grounds covered by the survey (ie gender, disability, ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief).  Notably within the group of respondents reporting a personal experience of discrimination, age was the most reported ground (6%).  The age related data were constant between 2008 and 2009, and there was little fluctuation between countries.

The 2009 survey data showed it was slightly more likely that a respondent would indicate that they had witnessed age discrimination (8%) than personally experienced it (6%), and interestingly this variation was less pronounced than for other areas of discrimination (eg 12% of respondents had witnessed discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin, whilst only 3% had had a personal experience).  Nevertheless 64% of Europeans believe that the economic crisis will lead to an increase in age discrimination (compared with 57% who believe discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity will increase, and 56% in relation to disability).

(ii)  Combating discrimination
At an aggregate level Europeans are divided as to whether sufficient national efforts are being made to combat discrimination, with 49% agreeing that sufficient efforts are being made, and 44% expressing the opposite view.  Fluctuations are also evident between countries, and not unexpectedly Europeans who perceive discrimination to be widespread are more likely to feel that current efforts to combat discrimination are insufficient.

The report authors observed a paradox, namely notwithstanding expectations of increasing levels of discrimination on the basis of age, ethnicity and disability, arising from the economic crisis, Europeans also expect that governments will allocate less priority and funding to combat discrimination.

(iii)  Knowledge of the law
The majority of Europeans (52%) indicated that they are unaware of their rights as a victim of discrimination or harassment.  On a more positive note the report found a greater level of knowledge about legal rights in 2009 than 2008 in 6 countries (namely the UK, France, Sweden, Ireland, Spain and Bulgaria).  Disappointingly however victimisation did not significantly increase levels of awareness about victims’ rights, ie 35% of those who experienced discrimination said that they knew about their rights compared with 33% who did not experience discrimination.  Indeed knowledge about rights was more closely linked to education, with those who had spent more time in education (finishing at over age 20) being much more likely than those who finished full-time education early (at 15 years of age) to know about their rights – a difference of 20 percentage points.

(iv)  Equal opportunity in employment
48% of respondents believed that a job candidate’s look (dress sense/presentation) and age are the factors most likely to put them at a disadvantage, and these characteristics are seen as more disadvantageous than ethnic origin (38%), disability (37%) or general physical appearance (36%).  Notably in 2009, a candidate’s age was seen as more disadvantageous (48%) than it was in 2008 (45%), whereas disadvantage associated with the candidate’s look (dress sense/presentation) dropped from 50% in 2008 to 48% in 2009.  Clearly these perceptions of bias in relation to age are consistent with the overall finding that in 2009 Europeans were more likely to say that age discrimination is widespread than in 2008.

Intriguingly younger citizens were more likely to support interventions to monitor recruitment and workplace composition than older citizens.  In particular 73% of younger citizens (aged 15-24) were likely to support the monitoring of recruitment practices compared with 62% of those aged 55 and over, and 56% of younger citizens support the monitoring of workplace composition compared with 46% of older citizens.  This differentiation begs the question “Is age discrimination being experienced by older and younger citizens alike, or is it more focussed on a particular age group?”.  Data about perceptions and experiences of discrimination are covered in a stand-alone chapter of the report, which are detailed below in paragraph (v).

(v)  Discrimination on the basis of age in detail

1. The perceived extent of discrimination.  As noted above, in 2009 Europeans are more likely to see age discrimination as widespread compared with 2008.  To put this more starkly, in 2008 52% of Europeans perceived age discrimination to be rare, whereas by 2009 58% of Europeans perceived age discrimination as widespread (16% very widespread, 42% fairly widespread).  Further in terms of a country analysis, the report found that this was the majority view in 22 of the 30 countries surveyed, with Hungary at the top of the list (79%), followed by the Czech Republic (74%), France (68%), Latvia (67%) and The Netherlands (66%).
2. Old or young?  Whilst survey respondents were not asked to differentiate between whether the perceived age discrimination applied to both younger or older citizens, or just by one group, the data showed that citizens aged 40 and over are more likely to say that discrimination on the basis of age is widespread than those who are younger.  In particular 60% of those aged 40-54, and 60% of those aged 55+ perceived age discrimination as widespread, compared with 49% of those 15-24 and 56% of those aged 25-39.
3. Positions of power.  The data show relatively high levels of discomfort with having someone under age 30 or over age 75 as a leader.  In particular respondents rated their level of comfort as 5.9/10 for someone under 30 being in the top political position, and at 4.8/10 for a person aged over 75.  These levels of discomfort are made starker by comparison, eg respondents are much more likely to feel comfortable with a woman holding the highest office (8.5/10).  Further in comparison with the norm, younger citizens are more likely to feel a higher level of comfort with a younger leader (7/10) and less likely to feel a level of comfort with an older leader (5.1/10).

1.4  Conclusion

The report authors concluded that in relation to the significant shift in perceptions about age discrimination (from “rare” to “widespread” in the space of a year) “the economic crisis seems to lie at the core of this shift in opinion: one of the perceived consequences of the crisis is that the jobs of older Europeans are less secure”.  Paradoxically, whilst this conclusion, along with the ageing demographic in Europe, suggests that governments ought to give priority to addressing age discrimination in 2010, the majority of Europeans did not expect that to eventuate.  The report authors emphasised the importance of monitoring recruitment practices and workforce discrimination to address age discrimination, and moreover that the majority of respondents were supportive of such interventions.

To download a copy of Discrimination in the EU in 2009: Special Eurobarometer 317 visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_317_en.pdf.


2.  German research:  Who is hit hardest during a financial crisis? The vulnerability of young men and women to unemployment in an economic downturn

This report published by IZA, a private, independent research institute which conducts nationally and internationally oriented labour market research, details trends from previous and current global downturns and in particular the impact of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2009 on young workers in OECD countries. In essence, in the current and previous global downturns, young people have been, and continue to be, hit harder in comparison to the adult population because they lack skills, work experience and the financial resources to find employment. Disturbingly, the report argues that rising unemployment rates for the youth continues to persist even after an economy recovers.  As a consequence, young people are more likely to be unemployed or employed on more precarious contracts and are therefore more sensitive to the business cycle compared to the adult population.

The report argues that factors such as sector composition of employment and institutional settings in terms of employment protection also contribute to how heavily certain groups of workers are impacted by financial crises, eg young men employed in the construction sector were one of the most heavily impacted groups in the GFC. This has detrimental flow-on consequences including direct economic costs such as financing unemployment benefits, retraining schemes, and the loss in potential output resulting from lower employment rates; as well as the social impact of joblessness, increased crime, mental health problems, violence, drug taking and social exclusion.  As a result, the report suggests that policymakers should direct crisis interventions to assisting young workers in maintaining employment, new entrants to the labour market, and those who have lost jobs find employment.

2.1  Method

The focus of the report was based on OECD data as there was a lack of relevant disaggregated data for developing economies. More specifically, the report detailed statistics from a sample of countries included most European countries, Australia, Canada and the United States, which together represent almost 60 per cent of the global economy. The report analysed data from sources such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics, EUROSTAT Employment and Unemployment (Labour Force Survey) database, and Statistics Canada.

To study the impact of global downturns on youth unemployment, the change in unemployment rates is calculated as the difference between the minimum rate reached after December 2007 and the latest monthly figure. In essence, the research reports the percentages of unemployment rates for each country so that the findings can illustrate and compare the differential impact of the crisis on specific economies.

“Young workers” were classified as 15-24 years compared to the “prime-age men” (25-54 years of age) who serve as a reference group since this population typically experiences the fewest barriers in a given labour market.

2.2  Findings

This summary identifies three key discussion points in the report namely: (i) trends in unemployment during previous economic crises; (ii) the impact of the current GFC on youth employment; and (iii) drivers of unemployment trends.

(i)  Trends in unemployment during previous economic crises
To illustrate the labour market trends following a financial crisis, the report analyses the “Big 5” Crises, namely, the financial or banking crises in Spain (1977), Norway (1987), Finland (1991), Sweden (1991), and Japan (1992). Mexico (1994) and Turkey (1994) financial crises were also explored as case studies. The report argues that these crises were caused by a combination of factors including the liberalisation of financial markets and poor banking regulation which, combined with external forces, resulted in currency devaluations, bank closures, and freezing of credit channels.

As a consequence, these recessions had major implications for the labour market in terms of rising unemployment. By way of example, Figure 1 below illustrates the unemployment rate of young men, young women and prime-age men (as a comparison) in Finland during periods of recession and economic recovery over the business cycle.  During this recession, Finland experienced a cumulative loss of gross domestic product (GDP) of 14% from 1990 to 1993 and a rapid increase in youth unemployment rates reaching 32% (young men) and 30% (young women) in 1994.


Source:  OECD Labour Force Statistics database (unemployment rate); World Development Indicators database (gross domestic product per capita is in constant US$ (at 2000 level)).
Notes: The vertical line denotes the starting year of the financial crisis.

In general, the report found that both young men and women were more vulnerable to unemployment during and after a crisis compared to the adult population.  This is seen in the larger percentages of, and earlier peak in, unemployment rates of young workers compared to prime-age males.  Moreover, high unemployment rates for young workers persist even after economic growth has recovered.

(ii)  The impact of the current GFC on youth unemployment
The GFC is the deepest recession that the world has experienced since World War II during which unemployment rates have increased in all countries and have been increasing faster since mid 2008. This research found that by the end of 2007, an additional 2.1 million young men and 1 million young women became unemployed across its sample of countries.  Figure 2 in the report shows the percentage change in unemployment rate for young men, young women and prime-age men for the sample of countries that this report used.


Source:  Australian Bureau of Statistics (accessed 9 July 2009), EUROSTAT Employment and Unemployment (Labour Force Survey) database (accessed 3 August 2009), and Statistics Canada (accessed 14 July 2009).
Notes: The latest month is June 2009 for all countries except Greece, Italy, Romania and Turkey (March 2009) and Norway and the United Kingdom (April 2009).
The change in unemployment rates is calculated as the difference between the minimum monthly rate reached after December 2007, the start of the recession in the United States, and the latest monthly figure.

Not surprisingly, increases for youth have been more dramatic than the rise in unemployment of prime-age men. Although young men in particular experienced larger increases in unemployment rates compared to young women, it is important to note that this may have been influenced by the fact that females often have higher initial rates of unemployment.

(iii)  Drivers of unemployment trends
The report argues that the different levels of impact that the GFC had on unemployment rates results from a combination of factors, namely, (i) the degree to which the economy shrinks, (ii) the sectoral composition of employment, (iii) the composition of employment type, (iv) institutional setting in terms of employment protection, and (v) initial levels of unemployment.

Although it is unsurprising that unemployment rates have increased more in countries suffering a larger collapse in economic growth, more detailed analysis reveals that this relationship is driven by the five most affected countries (the Baltic States, Ireland and Spain) ie there is no relationship between changes in growth and unemployment for the remaining countries in the sample.

As a result, the report argues that other factors contribute to increased unemployment rates as a result of the GFC. More specifically, specific sectors such as construction and manufacturing would have been more heavily impacted upon compared to other sectors due to their exposure to financial and/or trade downturns. However, once again, deeper analyses failed to show a strong negative relationship between unemployment and the share of young men in manufacturing or construction sectors, as the trend is only evident with the removal of five outliers. Therefore, the report argues that the unemployment rate of young men increased more in countries which relied heavily on these sectors.

Temporary employment was also a contributing factor to high unemployment rates. A large percentage of young workers were found to have temporary employment arrangements, for example 41% of young men in the European Union have jobs classified as temporary employment. As a result of the lack of security that these jobs provide compared to regular jobs, the level of unemployment for young workers increased more rapidly in countries where this share was higher. This was evident as the negative relationship between temporary employment and youth unemployment was driven by the Baltic States, Ireland and Spain.

The report also found that countries with strict employment protection legislation (EPL) experienced a smaller increase in the unemployment rate of young men. However, the report acknowledged that the trend could not be clearly generalised as countries such as Greece experienced lower rates and levels of unemployment than countries with similar levels of EPL such as Spain.

Initially high unemployment rates also affected subsequent changes ie young men were more affected in countries which were already experiencing high levels of unemployment. The report argues that high levels of youth unemployment were primarily due to a range of factors, including lack of skills and poor education levels of young men.

In essence, the report found that the relationships between youth unemployment and the factors above could not be clearly generalised.  In particular, many relationships were driven by the five most affected countries, namely, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania and Spain, and when removed, weakened or failed to produce any relationship between youth unemployment rates and certain factors. As a result, the report remarks that there is a complex interaction of different factors and cannot be considered in isolation.

2.3  Recommendations and conclusion

The report concludes that young men have been generally more affected, especially in construction and manufacturing, and young women continue to face longer term barriers in the labour market. The complex interaction of numerous factors makes it difficult to determine what causes the different levels and rates of unemployment for young workers in different countries, but the issue of concern is that the increased gap between youth and adult unemployment rates remains, even after the economy has begun to recover. More specifically, groups such as the 15-19 years bracket are known to be vulnerable to unemployment due to low levels of education. As a result, the report suggests that governments should ensure that policy interventions such as subsidies, training schemes and job search assistance programmes are targeted at the youth, especially assisting young people in finding employment, entering the labour market and maintaining employment.

For more information, see Verick, S. (2009) ‘Who is hit hardest during a financial crisis? The vulnerability of young men and women to unemployment in an economic downturn’ IZA Discussion Paper, no. 4359, August.


3.  UK research:  An ageing workforce:  The employer’s perspective

How are employers responding to issues of health and the demand and need for flexibility by older workers?  What are the opportunities (eg for downshifting, job redesign) and obstacles to addressing the needs of older workers?  What is the extent of flexible work options available to older workers?  How are employers responding to the recent age discrimination legislation introduced in the UK? While recent research by Barnes, Smeaton & Taylor (Institute of Employment Studies) was not conducted specifically to examine the impact of the GFC on age discrimination, some of the data were collected during this period.  The findings also have implications for responding to some of the shifts that have occurred as a consequence of the GFC and for approaches organisations could take as the economy recovers and skills shortages and recruitment become critical workforce planning issues.  In this context, this research provides interesting insights from an often-neglected viewpoint -- the perspective of employers.

3.1  Aims

The project was funded by the Nuffield Foundation and was conducted jointly by the Institute for Employment Studies and The Policy Studies Institute.  The major objective was to investigate the range of current policies and practices designed to prevent early retirement and enable staff to remain in employment to pension age and beyond.  Of particular interest was the degree to which employers have adopted a preventative approach, the extent of progress and difficulties encountered, and the identification of additional policy solutions.  The study was also designed to examine differences in responding to workforce ageing across different types of employers, particularly size and industry sector.

3.2  Method

Data for the study were drawn from two different sources:

1. First, a secondary analysis of the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (conducted two years before the introduction of UK age discrimination legislation).  This is a nationally representative survey of 2,295 managers from workplaces with five or more staff.  The intention behind this analysis was to provide a contextual background of how age has been managed across a diverse group of UK organisations, and the extent to which there are “pro-age” policies and practices (eg flexible work practices).
2. Second, qualitative interviews were conducted with 42 employer representatives in 34 organisations.  These were selected based on the findings from the 2006 Equal Opportunities Commission survey on ‘the future of work and workplace transformation’.  Organisations were selected based on size, type and sector, as well as a flexibility measure: high levels of flexibility evident, medium, and low levels of flexibility evident.  The intent behind these interviews was to conduct an in-depth investigation of the motivations behind specific age management strategies, to identify the different problems experienced in different industry sectors, and to highlight specific tensions encountered by employers.

3.3  Findings

Findings were summarised in terms of four issues: (i) Recruiting older workers; (ii) Flexibility and the older worker; (iii) Managing health issues among the older workforce; and (iv) Managing retirement.

(i)  Recruiting older workers
While 54% of workplaces had implemented a formal policy of equal employment opportunities for age, far fewer monitored age discrimination in relation to recruitment (18%), promotions (6%) or pay rates (5%).  Pro-age approaches were found to be more prevalent in workplaces that: are large, unionised, team-based, and that are dominated by women (61% had EEO for age).  Industries dominated by men (eg manufacturing and transport) were much less likely to have equal opportunity policies for age (45%).  Almost all of the managers who were interviewed identified benefits associated with recruiting older workers.  These included: reliability and a strong work ethic, reliability and punctuality, and maturity of attitude and the ability to cope under pressure.  At the same time, many expressed reservations about recruiting older workers.  These included: aptitude, attitudes (eg “set in their ways”), having the necessary skills (eg IT), physical demands of particular jobs and health problems.  The majority of those interviewed were familiar with the age discrimination legislation and had engaged with it in some way (eg had read about it or had attended a seminar).

(ii)  Flexibility and the older worker
There was considerable variation both in the range of offerings of flexibility (eg working from home, part-time work, job-sharing, flexitime, sabbaticals), whether or not they were formalised or offered on a case by case basis, or whether the reasons for flexibility were important (eg because of health needs).  An important finding was that employers did not consider age as a critical criterion in making decisions about flexibility (business factors were more critical).  Interestingly, most of this group of employers had not experienced an employee requesting flexibility on the basis of their being older, and many interpreted this as indicating a lack of demand and having a priority on maximising hours and earnings as opposed to reducing them (this assumption was especially prevalent in male-dominated blue-collar workforces).

(iii)  Managing health issues among the older workforce
Higher levels of stress and mental ill health were found in professional, managerial and other jobs with high levels of autonomy and unmanageable workloads, and male-dominated work environments.  Other indicators of enhanced health risks and absences associated with ill health were: having a large proportion of older workers, performance-related pay, shift working long hours and multiple repetitive tasks.  Factors that helped to reduce these negative health outcomes included: having control over start and finish times and other flexitime arrangements and working in a team environment.  Very few organisations, however, showed evidence either of adopting preventative measures to reduce the health risks for older workers, or adopting an active approach to retaining older workers with health problems.

(iv)  Managing retirement
Very few employers in this study enforced retirement at 65 years, many were either employing someone over state pension age or had done so recently and many indicated that they would be happy for the compulsory retirement age to be abolished.  Very few (and they were mainly large employers) offered either retirement planning seminars or pre-retirement courses, and most of these had a narrow focus on pensions and financial management.  Note that in workplaces that were downsizing there was no evidence of older workers being targeted for redundancies.

3.4  Conclusions and recommendations

Conclusions and recommendations made by the authors or are implied by the findings include:

• Be proactive:  Employers need to be more proactive in addressing the needs of older workers, eg by communicating that alternative work arrangements are possible and by institutionalising flexibility across the life-course.
• Encourage openness:  The workplace culture needs to be more open to enable staff to communicate with their managers and employers about caring or health issues and what their needs are for flexibility.  This could reduce the number of older staff leaving and the risks of ill health.
• Be clear:  Separate out issues associated with the management of age and retirement, and performance management.
• Act now:  Adopt a preventative approach to reduce risks associated with physical and mental ill health.  This could involve improving safety and reducing physically demanding tasks, job redesign, and offering general health education seminars appropriate to older workers.  The authors make particular mention of the need for more research into the impact of job redesign, target setting cultures and management styles on the sustainability of working lives.

To download a copy of An ageing workforce:  The employer’s perspective visit  www.employment-studies.co.uk.


4.  AUS article preview:  Got a lot o’ livin’ to do - Opportunities for older workers in the Global Financial Crisis

An upcoming article in the Australian Bulletin of Labour by Helene Mountford (Department of Business, Macquarie University) discusses how the 2009 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) differs from previous recessions.  In particular Mountford argues that unlike previous recessions, businesses favoured a strategy of reducing labour costs by retaining skilled staff on reduced working hours over large scale restructuring and retrenchments.  Further Mountford argues that older workers are more willing to accept these new conditions given that they need to work to fund their retirement but want more job flexibility to meet their caring responsibilities.  Mountford concludes: “... flexible work provides employers with, on the one hand, cost containment, and on the other, employees with attributes they value, such as specific skills, loyalty, productivity and corporate memory which will be willingly passed on”.

For more information email hmountfo@efs.mq.edu.au or visit  http://nils.flinders.edu.au/australian-bulletin-of-labour/.


Regards,

Juliet Bourke and Dr Graeme Russell
Partners
Aequus Partners
www.aequus.com.au

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