Older workers are a given on the job market; such was Manpower’s conclusion after a worldwide survey of 28,000 employers last August. With the approaching retirement of 7.5 million baby boomers in Canada, the participation rate could fall to 60% in 20 years, vs 67.5% in 2004 (Statistics Canada). Companies must begin to anticipate this brain drain as of now, and in particular, quickly implement programs to retain their 40- and 50-something employees. The public authorities also have a role to play. Here are a few tips from Manpower to avoid an economic recession due to the massive retirement of baby boomers:
- Ensure long-term talent management
Companies must set up an effective recruiting and retention policy for older workers. This means making a long-term investment in their employees—identifying, keeping and ensuring the succession of the business’ active talents. Because in addition to the succession issue, companies should seek to keep their best and brightest as long as possible. To do this, training and professional development must include both older and younger employees.
- Balance work and personal life
Much more active than their predecessors, today’s seniors are taking advantage of their retirement to travel, enjoy their family and life in general. To appeal to them and build their loyalty, companies should offer flexible arrangements such as part-time work and flex-time. In addition to these proposed methods, other conditions such as the possibility of flexible promotions will help to develop a strong company image that reaches the over-50 group as well as younger candidates.
- Have the necessary support from the public authorities
According to Manpower, public authorities also have a major role to play in the issue of older workers’ retirement. They must participate in changing attitudes, by taking measures to delay the retirement of their active population. For example, some governments have decided to extend or even eliminate the legal retirement age, or give grants to companies who hire workers older than 50, or that implement tailored recruiting programs. Some groups are already speaking out about this, like the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), which has proposed hiking the retirement age from 65 to 67 over the coming years