Managing an Ageing Workforce: NZ Research Report

Managing an Ageing Workforce: NZ Research Report

New Zealand organisations could be better prepared to deal with an ageing workforce according to a new research report.

The report, Managing an Ageing Workforce, was prepared by AUT University’s New Zealand Work Research Institute in conjunction with the Equal Employment Opportunities Trust (EEO).

Managing an Ageing Workforce highlights some of the opportunities and challenges presented by New Zealand’s ageing workforce, drawing on a survey of 272 organisations across New Zealand in July 2014.

Key findings include:

• With population ageing, the ageing workforce could have a significant impact on many New Zealand organisations in the near future;
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• Some organisations are not well prepared to deal with an ageing workforce and many do not have policy or initiatives in this area;
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• In the majority of organisations, attitudes and behaviours toward older workers are perceived as fairly positive, with older workers appreciated and managed in an age-neutral way; and
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• The most common HR strategies for managing an ageing workforce include flexible work arrangements and mentoring of younger workers.

“Many organisations underestimate the potential that older workers offer. This is reflected in the ambiguous approach many take towards the recruitment and retention of older workers,” says the research lead Professor Tim Bentley, co-director of AUT’s New Zealand Work Research Institute.

“The world has changed. Gone are the days when an employee would reach 60 and shuffle off to tend to their garden or play golf, living out their days on a tidy retirement package! There are multiple reasons why people are working longer and this currently underutilised talent pool has much left to give and to gain from being an active part of the workforce,” says Bev Cassidy-Mackenzie, Chief Executive of EEO.

The Managing an Ageing Workforce report is available online: http://www.aut.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/525277/Ageing-Workforce-NZWRI_Feb15.pdf

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