‘Older people can be major business asset’

OLDER people can be a major business asset, a seminar was told in Dublin yesterday.

This is not a reversal of the cult of the young, however, just the plain facts of Ireland Inc facing the reality of an ageing population.

By 2011, the part of the population in the 45-69 age group (the older category) will have jumped 24% from 944,000 to 1,174,200.

Making the case yesterday for older workers, IBEC director Maria Cronin said that our younger workforce will and is inevitably getting older.

That raises several issues for employers in the medium term and could put a severe strain on filling vacancies sooner than we think.

Retiring people too young can have other implications, such as long-term funding of pensions.

To address the issue of how to deal with potential labour shortages, IBEC yesterday launched An Employers’ Guide to the Employment of Older Workers.

“We need to address the issues arising from the early retirement of older workers or we could be faced with a similar crisis in labour supply and pensions currently being experienced by some of our European partners,” said Ms Cronin.

As a result of the publication, employers have a toolkit suggesting a look at a new approach to meeting the needs of older workers.

Ireland’s term of the European presidency during the first six months of 2004 should provide the Government with the opportunity to build on this guideline, she said.

Junior Enterprise Minister Frank Fahey said the guide “is very timely and will provide practical advice to employers on introducing age diversity in their organisations.”

The document is the first guideline dealing exclusively with older people.

Developed by IBEC in association with the National Flexi-Work Partnership, it is supported by AGE Action Ireland, Trinity College, FÁS, ICTU and AWARE.

It tackles the view that age will disqualify older people from getting a job by pointing out an ESRI survey dispels that myth. More than half of 849 employers surveyed indicated that they had no preference for younger workers above older workers or vice-versa.