Contributed by About Seniors
Who needs early retirement?
The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, addressing the Financial Planning Association (FPA) Annual Convention 21 November 2002 said: ” … we are an ageing population…We have to realise that that has implications for funding health (and) implications for retirement incomes policy. As a nation we have to encourage people, if they wish, to stay in the workforce longer.”
He added that Australia’s 55 to 64 age group workforce participation rate at 49% is lower than in the US and New Zealand at 58 to 60%.
Mr Howard said: “We have to recognise that the cult of early retirement
… should be changed because we have a valuable asset – people with
enormous experience, increasingly better health and enthusiasm to make
a commitment and a capacity to do so.”
Some employers have adopted the view that because workers can
access their superannuation at 55 they can be retired. Urgent action to
change this attitude is emphasised by a report Who are Australia’s best
savers? prepared for the FPA by the National Centre for Social and
Economic Modelling which comments: “Less than half of all households
say they are managing to save and the group about to retire (the baby
boomers) are the weakest savers.
“Many households approaching retirement still have a number of
debts and it appears that a large proportion of any superannuation
received will be used to clear these debts and not to provide for their
retirement.”
On 25 February 25 2004, the Australian Treasurer, Peter Costello,
released two papers about our ageing population: a discussion paper
Australia’s Demographic Challenges which identifies improving
productivity and labour force participation as key priorities in
addressing ageing; a policy paper A More Flexible and Adaptable
Retirement Income System which considers the retirement income system,
retirement planning and government proposals in the face of our ageing
population. Go to this Treasury website to download the papers.
Why employ mature workers?
As the average age of our workers increase, employers can
benefit from hiring our most valuable resource: the experienced worker.
A trained older workforce becomes more vital to our economy with every
passing day.
Employers will find that older workers have a strong work ethic, are dependable, and possess versatile work experiences.
Veterans have not only served their country, but they can bring a wealth of experience to a job.
Older employees:
- understand the importance of customer service;
- respond positively to new technology;
- are innovative;
- exhibit good judgement;
- are less likely to be involved in work related accidents;
- offer improving quality of work with age;
- are as productive as younger workers (there is little, if any, decline of productivity with age);
- are committed to their employers;
- generally have lower training costs because of existing skills and lower turnover;
- may have extensive corporate knowledge which should not be wasted;
- demonstrate excellent attendance; and
- are likely to stay on a long-term basis.
Age Discrimination Illegal
With the Federal Government’s passing of the Age Discrimination
Bill 2003 in June 2004, employers are no longer able to discriminate on
the basis of age. There is now an enforceable remedy in federal law for
people who suffer discrimination on the basis of their age.
Reproduced with Permission of About Seniors
