Hays Specialist Recruitment has launched Hays Age Advantage, a specialist business unit dedicated to the recruitment of mature candidates and the first such service from a major recruiter to be established in Australia.
Hays Age Advantage’s mission is to provide clients with an effective and alternative source of candidates while offering individual candidates a professional service that respects and values their experience and knowledge.
Initially focusing on the accountancy and finance and support sectors in Sydney, Hays Age Advantage plans to expand across the country and into other sectors.
“With unemployment at record lows and a severe shortage of skilled candidates, Hays have recognised the growing need to tap into a significant though underutilised candidate pool – the mature candidate market,” said Catherine Foley, Regional Director of Hays Age Advantage.
“Not only are these candidates skilled and experienced, they intend to remain in the workforce beyond an age where they might once have chosen or wanted to retire.
“With a rapidly aging workforce and skills shortages impacting most professional industries, Hays Age Advantage will source the widest range of experienced and reliable professionals for each vacancy across a broad demographic,” she said.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that by 2031 the median age of Australia’s population will be 42.2 years, compared to 35.5 years in 2001 (Australian Social Trends 4102.0 1999, p 6). Meanwhile the percentage of the population under 15 years of age is falling (from 20.3% in 2001 to 16.5% in 2031) (Australian Social Trends 4102.0 1999, p 6), thus indicating the size of our future skilled candidate base is also falling.
“The aging population and the falling rate of replacements for our skilled candidates of the future will have implications for businesses, who will come to rely upon mature-aged candidates far more than at present,” said Catherine.
Yet according to the ABS, “Older jobseekers (defined by the ABS as jobseekers aged 45-59 years) are less successful in obtaining work than young jobseekers, are more likely to drop out of the labour market and less likely to find a job as a result of a training course. Jobs they do find are more likely to be part-time or casual, and low-paid.” (Australian Social Trends 4102.0 1999, p 114)
“We hope this division will help mature age workers continue to develop and enjoy a meaningful career,” said Catherine. “We also aim to promote to employers the value mature age employees, with their wealth of experience, ability to adapt quickly to change, loyalty and maturity, can bring an organisation,” she said.
Catherine believes the biggest challenge for Hays Age Advantage will be overcoming line manager perceptions of older workers. “Our initial conversations with senior management across a range of businesses, from SMEs to large multinationals, indicates they are very enthused with the idea. However even they believe that the biggest challenge will come from line and team management resisting employing mature staff. Part of our function will therefore be educating the people who make the hiring decisions about the advantages of mature-aged candidates,” she said.
Hays has been collecting feedback from mature candidates, which highlights the difficulties and frustrations these jobseekers often face, and which Hays Age Advantage aims to overcome. Some include:
“I am a mature age person who was made redundant in June last year. Over the past 18 months I have applied for 45 full time and several contracting roles. I have only had one interview for a full time position. I just don’t know where to go from here.”
“The company that I am working for is pursuing young executives with high potentials. Those mature middle managers who have been working for the company long enough but not on their (younger generation) list will miss out.”
“Mature aged people are not necessarily "behind" in terms of technology. They may type with 3 fingers and not 10 but they know how to make technology work for them.”
”I am 51 years old and have had a lot of problems trying to find employment due to my age. Over the past 5 years I have lost count of the jobs I have applied for only to find out the employer was ‘looking for someone younger’."
“It"s a fact of life that the important lessons in life - be it business life or personal life - we learn from making mistakes. Mature aged people - those that have lived an active and diversified career path - are in truth worth a fortune to any business. You cannot buy experience. Every business should have at least one senior mentor.”
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