Our workforce is getting older as our population ages. By the middle of this century, it's estimated that a quarter of New Zealanders will be aged over 65. This means that we'll rely heavily on older workers to ensure productivity rates remain high. As the New Zealand's "babyboomers" website puts it - retaining older workers will be critical.

Leigh attended a talk by Ross Pearce (IBM) at the EEO Trust on the ageing New Zealand workforce. Much research is being done on working with older workers, as you can read on the EEO Trust website. The article includes some of the highlights of working with older workers, as reported through research on employers:

"Older people are valuable employees. They bring reliability, a good work ethic, maturity, experience, expertise, institutional knowledge, stability, loyalty and the ability to mentor younger workers."

"Some respondents noted that older job applicants were more confident than they were a few years ago. Others suggested that older workers needed to promote themselves more effectively."

"Flexibility measures such as reduced hours, part-time work, special leave, extended leave, job redesign and a culture of inclusiveness and respect encouraged older people to stay at work."

EEO Trust also has a guide on Recruiting and retaining older workers available on their website.