For nearly all of the 20th century, employment of older workers decreased as increasing numbers retired. But since the mid-1990s, this trend has reversed. Employment among men at least 65 years of age, for example, has increased. The Great Recession of recent years has masked this long-term trend and the reasons for it and has … Continue reading
Since 1 January 2012, the Retirement Age Act (RAA) has been replaced by the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA). Like the RAA, the RRA also covers all employees who are Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents. Under the RRA, the statutory minimum retirement age is still 62, but employers are now required to offer re-employment to … Continue reading
A large majority of Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners agree that workers 65 years and older offer more valuable experience and expertise than younger workers, according to new research from Investors Group. According to the Canadian financial firm, 96 per cent of SME owners said retirement-age employees bring more value to the table, … Continue reading
There is the schism of America’s workforce since the NBER-defined official end of the recession in June 2009 into the “haves”, or those above 55, who have been able to get a job since the end of the recession, and the “have nots”, or all those in the labor force who have not been able to … Continue reading
The death of teen Amanda Todd has shone a spotlight on bullying of the young, but experts say the bullying phenomenon spans cradle to casket, with older workers in particular being “at considerable risk” of victimization. Research by the Workplace Bullying Institute finds nearly one-third of people between the ages of 50 and 64 have … Continue reading
The number of workers age 55 and up grew by 3.5 million from September 2009 to September 2012. That represents the lion’s share of the gain of 4.2 million for all workers 16 and older, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Two factors help explain the trend. First: demographics. In the three years ended … Continue reading
“After reaching record highs month after month, the typical length of time a jobless worker in the United States has been unemployed finally fell in April’ 2011, to “only” 38.3 weeks. But the outlook is looking bleaker for the nation’s older workers.” wrote Catherine Rampell in Older Workers Without Jobs Face Longest Time Out of … Continue reading
Dear J.T. & Dale: My belief is that the younger generation of HR workers openly discriminate against older employees. I believe they are threatened because they are simply outperformed by the 40- to 70-year-olds. Thoughts? – Aaron J.T.: I’m not sure that it’s a question of who’s more productive, but rather, who’s less expensive. Labor costs … Continue reading
Between December 2007 and May 2010, the employment rate dropped by 6 percent for men ages 25-54, but less than 1 percent for workers age 55 and older. The pattern for women was equally dramatic: the employment rate dropped by 3 percent for younger women and actually increased by almost 1 percent for older women … Continue reading
How often have you heard people say that older workers putting off retirement and staying on the job longer means fewer opportunities for younger workers? Well, a new report finds just the opposite is true. Researchers for the Pew Charitable Trusts looked at the government’s Current Population Survey for data on workers ages 20 to … Continue reading
Americans age 55 and older are struggling to rebound from a dramatic spike in unemployment since December 2007. Seniors have experienced consistently longer periods of unemployment than younger workers, as employers seek cheaper labor and look to skirt potentially higher health care costs, according to a study by the Government Accountability Office released earlier this … Continue reading
Australia’s mature-age workforce is on the up and up, with the latest Treasury calculations showing that the nation’s employers are increasingly retaining more older workers. New employment and participation rate figures, released by federal Treasurer Wayne Swan at a conference in Sydney yesterday, reveals a steady growth in employment and participation rates among people aged … Continue reading
The thought of retiring after more than four decades made Hirofumi Mishima anxious. Instead of looking forward to ending his three-hour daily commute, Mishima wanted to work, even if it meant another hour on the train. “Keeping a regular job is the most stimulating thing for me,” said Mishima, 69, who spent six months trawling … Continue reading
Nearly three-quarters of Canadians believe workplaces are shunning older job applicants based solely on their age, a worrisome finding given labour force trends in Canada.In a survey conducted by Ipsos Reid exclusively for Postmedia News, 74 per cent of those asked either “strongly” or “somewhat” agreed that employers discriminate against older people looking for jobs. … Continue reading
A year after NASA ended the three-decade-long U.S. space shuttle program, thousands of formerly well-paid engineers and other workers around the Kennedy Space Center are still struggling to find jobs to replace the careers that flourished when shuttles blasted off from the Florida “Space Coast.” Some have headed to South Carolina to build airplanes in … Continue reading