Age diversity in the future workforce, potentiality and growth

 

 

Age diversity in the future workforce, potentiality and growth

The workplace is constantly changing — and at a rate that has never been witnessed before. The demographic and technological developments have accelerated in recent years, resulting in shortages for many organisations, as well as changes in the nature of  employment and how businesses work.

In light of these changes, developing the proper employer techniques and approaches to use the full potential of an all-age workforce will be a strategic goal for every organisation, large or small.

Prior to the Covid pandemic, over one-third of UK employees were over the age of 50. However, the over 50s have been among the most impacted by the pandemic, with 175,000 extra 50-64 year-olds out of work since March 2020, increasing the total to 340,000[1]. Even though older workers constitute a third of the workforce, they often face several challenges in keeping or returning to work.

People are living and working longer than they have in the past, with four to five generations coexisting, this opens up significant potential for businesses, employees, and society. Creating multigenerational workforces and providing older workers with more opportunities to work may boost GDP per capita by 19 per cent over the next three decades, according to estimates[2].

The multigenerational workforce brings together a more diverse range of workers of various ages than in the past when companies tended to have a higher proportion of younger workers and a smaller proportion of older workers and contrary to popular belief, new research from across the OECD countries[3] demonstrates that older individuals can enhance business productivity not just via their personal experience and expertise, but also by increasing team performance through age and skill integration between younger and older workers.

Workplaces are becoming more multigenerational, with four generations working together

What does it mean to have a multigenerational workforce? The multigenerational workforce brings together a more diverse range of workers of various ages than in the past. It includes people with a diverse range of perspectives based on their age and experiences with school, job, technology, family life and more.

A multigenerational workforce may result in a better talent pipeline, increased productivity, and increased resiliency. It also enhances stability and intellectual capital retention. Older workers are key to addressing the challenges brought by ageing and new technologies. Since the beginning of the century, older workers' participation in the labour market has increased significantly, and businesses are capitalising on this new opportunity. Employment rates for older workers have increased much more rapidly than for the rest of the population and this trend is evident across all educational levels[4].

Young and old employees are complementary rather than competitors

Let's look at some of the reasons why investing in a "silver workforce" is a good idea.

• Expertise and advanced knowledge

Older individuals can learn new skills just as well as younger ones, and they have been shown to have higher levels of knowledge and expertise two of the most important determinants of work performance[5]. Additionally, individuals in their senior years have been shown to be more communicative, expanding their vocabulary and polishing their expressive skills.

• Improved interpersonal skills

Scientific research once again reveals that elderly adults have more sophisticated inductive reasoning abilities. This implies they're less inclined to make snap decisions based on emotions or intuition, preferring instead to depend on facts.

• Adaptability and resilience

People that are resilient are better able to bounce back fast from challenges and setbacks, which is a huge asset in any workplace. This trait is connected to adaptability, a crucial soft talent that allows people to quickly adopt new abilities and behaviours in response to changing situations.

• Relationships and networking

This is an important point at any age, but older employees may have an advantage here due to a mix of refined interpersonal skills and many years of experience. Furthermore, senior personnel have simply had more time to expand their network of connections, and the greater a company's network of contacts, the more leads it can create.

Age-friendly recruitment would certainly open lots of chances to older employees, giving them opportunities to advance and companies the chance to profit from an experienced, diversified workforce – including persons in their middle and later years. Businesses are finally realising that the habit of workers becoming outdated in their 50s is not only unsustainable but also irrational.

Employers have excellent reasons to seek to hire more senior employees. In the three months leading up to December 2021, the number of job openings reached a new high of 1.25 million. At the same time, government statistics[6] show that over 800,000 persons aged 50 to 64 are either actively looking for work or are unemployed but want to work.