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Older working Australians deserve a new start too

Ian Yates

by Ian Yates

26 Oct 05:30am

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Filed under: Elderly, Newstart, Unemployment, Work

38 comments

When you think of the long-term unemployed, it is unlikely that the first image that comes to mind is of a grandparent.

If experience is essential, he's your man

Yet the reality is that over a quarter of people on Newstart Allowance are in their fifties and sixties, and one third of the long-term unemployed are in these age brackets.

The issues around age discrimination in the workforce are disturbing and need to be addressed if we are to ensure our economy remains sustainable as the population ages.

But in the meantime, the fact remains that a person who loses a job in their fifties faces a huge uphill battle to get fulltime meaningful employment again, despite a life time of experience and credentials.

As a result, there are large numbers of older Australians who languish on unemployment benefits for years. Almost 30 per cent of the long-term unemployed are aged 55 or over.

This means that people in their sixties have to meet strict and too often pointless activity tests requirements – right up until they can apply for an Age Pension at age 65.

Australia’s unemployment benefits were designed to tide people over, to support them in the short term until they were able to gain employment. However 60 per cent of people live on it for more than 12 months – that’s not short term.

At only $35 a day it is a struggle for anyone to get by on for a short time, impossible over a longer period.

Newstart is considerably less than other support pensions. The single Age Pension is $133 a week more than Newstart and comes with less strict income tests and more generous concession card arrangements. At the current rate of indexation, Newstart payments will be worth only half of the Age Pension in 20 years’ time.

Research recently released by ACOSS shows that 35 per cent of people 65 and over live below the poverty line on the Age Pension. With Newstart even less, it is little wonder we hear so many stories of the older unemployed having trouble paying bills and skipping meals just to get by?

To its credit, the Senate is currently holding an Inquiry into the adequacy of the allowance payment system and the changing nature of the labour market.

The Inquiry must consider the special issues facing many of the older unemployed in regard to assistance to return to work. However the Newstart Allowance is completely inadequate and entrenches poverty and marginalisation at any age.

Reform of employment support is overdue. It is critical the government seriously considers increasing Newstart payments by $50 a week at a minimum and index it appropriately so all job seekers can be supported in a way that enables people to maintain an acceptable quality of life.

There needs to be greater recognition of the training needs of older people with an expansion of places for older jobseekers in the wage subsidy scheme for very long term unemployed.

And ultimately a more thorough, independent inquiry needs to be established to drill down into the challenges and opportunities posed by an ageing population and explore how the skills and experience of older Australians can be better recognised by employers across the board so less older people need to rely on unemployment benefits.

Long-term unemployment is not an issue restricted to the young and unskilled as is the widely accepted norm. It affects a much broader cross section of our community which must be considered in any reforms in this area.

Ian Yates is Chief Executive of Council on the Ageing Australia

Comments on this post close at 8pm AEST

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38 comments

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    • Macca says:

      06:26am | 26/10/12

      This misses the point a little. What we are battling with, to some degree, is a cultural workplace attitude towards recruiting this 50 years and older.

      My old man spent 20+ years at an internationally recognized organization. Having received a redundancy at the end of last year, he has spent the last 10 months speaking with recruiters. With minimal success. He, like many other middle aged professionals, would not show up on the unemployment figures due to the redundancy payment. I would be surprised if this figure doesn’t continue to rise over the next 6 - 12 months. Finding work when you are out if work, particularly if you haven’t been through the recruitment process in 10+ years, is very difficult.

      The company I currently work for has a number of initiatives aimed at getting indigenous and long-term unemployed people into work. Partering with local training organizations and community groups, we provide a few weeks of training courses and then provide 2 year traineeships to the keener ones (the numbers, unfortunately, dwindle throughout the training courses. We are assured by our community partners this is quite common and to not lose heart).

      Earlier this year, when we ran the second iteration of this, I had a middle manager (he in his late 30s) question me around why we were training guys in their 50s when they’re less likely to learn and going to retire soon. I was bemused, but it turns out his narrow-mindedness (or naivety) is quite common.

      As more Gen-Y and Gen-X professionals move into management positions they’ll need to assess their own prejudices, particularly in relation to recruiting, engaging and retaining experienced candidates who have been out of work for a while and are 10+ years older than them.

      Reply

    • Gregg says:

      07:03am | 26/10/12

      It’s already been happening for decades Macca and then even when something like a mining boom comes along, you are probably considered to have been out of the workforce for too long even if with something like engineering you never really forget about an engineering approach to work.

    • stevem says:

      10:02am | 26/10/12

      The thing people forget is the change in employment attitudes that have occurred over the last 40 years. When workers in their 50’s started work, they expected to be in one job for a very long time. Changing jobs every 3-4 years was considered very poor form and would result in a negative perception at interviews. Today those starting work expect to change more often.
      Chances are training a 50 year old would pay off as they would probably stay at the company until retirement whereas a 20 year old would probably move on and training costs would need to be paid several times over as staff came and went.

    • Jimi Hendrix says:

      11:16am | 26/10/12

      The Govt should be more harsh on Baby Boomers who are lazy and don’t want to work and rort the pension and Baby Boomers who are living off their super slush funds but still illegally collect the pension.

    • marley says:

      12:12pm | 26/10/12

      @JimiHendrix - “The Govt should be more harsh on Baby Boomers who are lazy and don’t want to work and rort the pension and Baby Boomers who are living off their super slush funds but still illegally collect the pension.”

      Didn’t they teach you arithmetic in school?  The Baby Boom started in 1946.  That means that the very oldest boomers are 66.  The vast majority aren’t yet at pension age.  How they can be rorting the system by collecting the pension illegally is a mystery only you can solve.

    • Gregg says:

      06:30am | 26/10/12

      And then there are the uncounted, never mentioned ones who never get anything like a government $900 hand out either.

      I’d reckon I could be one of quite a few skilled experienced people who got put out of employment through industry restructure they called it, privatisation more the description and that was in my forties nearly a couple of decades ago.

      If you reckon anyone would employ someone approaching fifty over and above someone in their thirties or whatever, you need to think again.
      The fortunate ones may have a spouse who could get work and/or have a superannuation fund with which they can be creative and so I have managed to survive not too badly but I’m never looking forward to catching up with my taxation returns even though tax is still paid on the super earnings, a bit better than the governments super profits fiasco I suppose.

      You do get creative in other ways too when the opportunity arises and one of the more different earnings for me was once buying 550 loaves of bread in one week when there was a $3 cash back deal and the bread on special was around $1.80/$2.00 , that a few years back and the hardest bit was finding enough ways of getting rid of 500 odd loaves and keeping the bag, job done though and many people benefitted.
      And then you would be amazed at what gets dumped from house building sites that can be used by handymen.

      Reply

    • dweezy2176 says:

      07:03am | 26/10/12

      Lucky me! After several years existing on Newstart I turn 65 just after Xmas and am looking forward to the OAP payrise. It will be nice to exist rather than struggle to survive.
      When KRudd raised the pension age to 65 there should have been outrage! But, NO, the sheeples kept on grazing. You went quietly to the slaughter like good little camp followers, your union leadership doesn’t have to worry they’ve ripped off enough of your dues to retire comfortably along with their their superannuation building stint in the Federal/State Senates, BUT YOU, you will have an extra 2 years to go & don’t kid yourself because health-wise those two years will feel like a lifetime!

      Reply

    • Joan Bennett says:

      07:29am | 26/10/12

      If I were an employer, I would prefer to hire someone in their 50s over someone in their 20s, 30s or even 40s.  Apart from the work ethic and loyalty factor (generally speaking), they are much less likely to waste work time updating their FB status or getting a million telephone calls a week about their children or having to rush off because their kids are sick.  Someone in their 50s is more likely to stay with the organisation until they can afford and are ready to retire, too.  Even if they do take a bit longer to learn the systems or adjust to a new environment, I think my above arguments outweigh any of perceived drawbacks.  In fact, I know someone who has been a Manager for about 10 years now .  She has learned that hiring people over 45 is rarely a mistake and that she can usually rely on them utterly.

      Reply

    • Libfail says:

      08:04am | 26/10/12

      I use to update my facebook status after i’d finished my work, while the Boomers were busy trying to work out where the Outlook icon is located on their desktop.

      The amount of time i’ve spent in the work place assisting the over 40’s with computers blows the mind, I actually list it on the resume as one of my job responsibilities.

    • Debbie says:

      08:21am | 26/10/12

      Hey Libfail ...  these “boomers”  who no nothing about technology actually invented computers and the internet smile

    • SLT says:

      09:03am | 26/10/12

      @ Joan Bennett

      Agree 100%.

      @Libfail

      Some members of the older generations may struggle with Outlook etc but they more than make up for it with other skills. For example they can spell and are capable of string more than two sentences together. In my experience the assertion that generation Y have superior IT skills is a misnomer. Their skillset is limited to Facebook and the internet. Most cannot use a word processor properly nor can they use a spreadsheet. They are unemployable and don’t even know it.

    • Mexican Beemer says:

      09:24am | 26/10/12

      Many older people do seem to take a bad attitude towards Learning & Development.

      But again this is a two way issue for employers could be more forceful in requiring staff to keep upskilling.

    • James1 says:

      10:49am | 26/10/12

      “In my experience the assertion that generation Y have superior IT skills is a misnomer. Their skillset is limited to Facebook and the internet. Most cannot use a word processor properly nor can they use a spreadsheet. They are unemployable and don’t even know it.”

      Yet here we are. 

      I think you are extrapolating on the basis of incomplete of flawed data.  If the general situation was as you outline, then the statistics would say something different.  The fact is, many young people can both string a sentence together and use the various software they need to to do their jobs well, while many in their 50s and 60s can’t. 

      Like MB says, the solution is upskilling - in most cases, if you fit the job best, you will get it (assuming it is based on merit, which every job I have every applied for has been).

    • andye says:

      12:05pm | 26/10/12

      I have had the experience of watching a succession of older managers come in and try to run a tech organisation. To a man they failed, despite apparently having lots of general experience. What they lacked was the kind of technical understanding that allowed them to even communicate with clients on the right level, let alone internal technical staff. they struggled to learn this stuff and be able to talk about it.

      @SLT : “In my experience the assertion that generation Y have superior IT skills is a misnomer. Their skillset is limited to Facebook and the internet. Most cannot use a word processor properly nor can they use a spreadsheet. They are unemployable and don’t even know it.”

      Perhaps in some organisations, but there is no shortage of Gen Y people who are highly technical, driven and working on complex cutting-edge projects right here in Sydney. Many of them are leaping over lazy gen x (yes i am one of them) and entitled boomers into management positions and being head-hunted by competitors.

      Using a spreadsheet and a word processor are clerical skills, really. Calling that IT is overstating it a bit.

    • Diogenes says:

      12:37pm | 26/10/12

      James1,
      I am now 53 years old. I have worked in IT for 25+ years. At age 48 I decided to do a degree and become a teacher - I worked as dish-pig while doing so.

      I graduated at 51 and was employed at a high school as an IT teacher.
      In my experience SLT is correct. Whilst I was doing the GradDipEd I had to help new graduates(ie straight out of school into uni & into DipED) format reports properly.

      Despite my best efforts to teach basic word processor and spreadsheet skills, and show them the easy & quick way to do something (eg use ctrl+enter to create a new page instead of hitting enter until the desired content is at the top of the next page and then adjust when they change the font size)  the kids are wholly uninterested and have the attention span of gnats.

    • James1 says:

      01:03pm | 26/10/12

      I put it to you that those with grad dips in education are not representative of the abilities of most of my generation.  Again, you are extrapolating on the basis on incomplete data, and your conclusions are flawed as a result.

      You cannot use such anecdotal evidence to write off an entire generation.  Likewise, you cannot use your self perception of your own abilities to say that your entire generation is more skilled than mine.

    • Libfail says:

      07:39am | 26/10/12

      The real story is why isnt there more outrage that the OAP is much higher than Newstart and climbing?  Why is someone over 65 and retired considered to need nearly twice the money as someone in their 20’s trying to get a job and make a start.  Job hunting is bloody expensive, far more expensive then a bowls club membership and a keno ticket once a week.  It’s pure ageism.  Governments for too long have pandered to the grey wave, the young need to find their voice and demand equal treatment. 

      after all, unlike the oldies of today, we wont be getting any pension at all….

      Reply

    • Gregg says:

      10:35am | 26/10/12

      It’s all carrot and stick and more carrots for the oldies Libfail.

      A little bit of carrot might encourage people to seek a bit more via working whereas you do not want so much for them to consider being too uncomfortable in unemployment.
      And then with the pensioners, most will have been through the employment mill for enough years, paying plenty of taxes etc. and with less in the way of superannuation ever provided, a pension as enough to just live on for many is something of a just reward.

    • Debbie says:

      08:08am | 26/10/12

      Very few small business are willing to take on older workers, they know too much, hell they might even know more than the proprietor. And most larger business’s have HR departments staffed by 20 something females who don’t even let grandad or grandma through the door.

      Retraining, re-skilling, call it what you will won’t change these entrenched attitudes. I seriously doubt anything will in my lifetime. Its a young persons world where appearance trumps substance most of the time. And the constant denigrating of unemployed by many labelling them as dole blugders is less than helpful.

      The Labor party in govt has made the situation worse. Firstly by raising the pension age to save money by keeping these unfortunate people on newstart for an extra couple of years. And more recently abolishing the dependent spouse rebate.

      Reply

    • ME ME ME ME says:

      08:13am | 26/10/12

      Baby Boomers are always the first to complain about anything and everything and generally blame da boats, da carbon tax or gen y for everything. You simply cant make them happy. They just want it all.  Worst generation in the history of mankind.

      Reply

    • marley says:

      08:31am | 26/10/12

      @ME ME ME - can I take if from your whinge that you are a boomer?  You certainly seem to fit the mould.

    • Selfish Baby Boomer says:

      08:27am | 26/10/12

      Salary sacrifice, super tax breaks, property investment tax breaks, increased pension: what else do you selfish baby boomers want

      Reply

    • AdamC says:

      08:51am | 26/10/12

      Still better to help them keep working while they can, rather than prematurely pension them off.

      Ah, the pension, another thing your generation will not be getting access to or, at least, not on the same cushy terms as the boomers of today. Go ahesd, shake your fist again; have a good cry. It’s therapeutic.

      Having said that, I do not approve of raising Newstart, unless there is some kind of corresponding restriction on access, or time limit on receipt. Seriously, Australia must be the only country in the world talking about increasing the passive welfare spend! Unbelievable.

    • Debbie says:

      09:01am | 26/10/12

      Selfishness and greed are not restricted to “baby boomers”. They are endemic across all demographics in this country. The more people get the more they want and the more self centred they become.

    • It's lonely out here. says:

      09:06am | 26/10/12

      The camaraderie of the workplace, a sense of purpose and worth. To be valued for your contribution and treated the same as anyone else?

    • Debbie says:

      09:12am | 26/10/12

      A time limit.

      Sorry, you have been on the newtart for too long and since you are not yet eligible for the pension you must die.

    • Mexican Beemer says:

      09:16am | 26/10/12

      I think there is an issue with the under employment of older workers and while on one level, the employers could be more open minded towards hiring but I think it does cut two ways.

      I have had this conversation with several recruiter friends and they often make the point that some older workers don’t approach the job seeking process with the right attitude.

      This is partly understandable for older workers entered the workforce when the Industrial Relations landscape and hiring practices were very different.

      Let’s take recruitment v Job Service Australia.

      Many older workers sign up with a centerlink backed Job Service provider, if the job seeker is experienced and qualified then they are wasting their time for Job Service Australia is suppose to focus on the unskilled and the odds are that the job seeker won’t find the sort of employment that they seek.

      Recruitment Agencies are the other side of the coin and the common misconception is that they are job placement people or an extension of the employers HR department.

      Recruiters are paid by the employer to fill a position that the employer wants filled and I have heard several recruiters say that they wish some candidates would focus on giving them something to sell to the client rather than getting negative.

      The other thing that I have heard several recruiters and management people say is that some job seekers apply for positions that do not match their experience or qualifications.

      Job Seeking requires networking and relationship building.

    • Onlooker says:

      09:28am | 26/10/12

      My husband and I are Boomers, we have a few years left before we are pension age, we don’t want to go on a pension, we want to be self funded retirees. The GFC knocked the hell out of our super. We planned and budgeted only to find we are far worse off then we thought. We are like squirrels saving every cent we can, no meals out, we don’t drink or do drugs or any of the expensive stuff. My husband will have no problem keeping his job after retirement, as he is very skilled at his trade. But we didn’t want to keep working till we are 100 just in order to pay the bills, we wanted to travel around Australia but I think those plans may be in jeopardy. Many older Australians would love to go back to work, costs are spiraling out of control, but can’t find employers ready to take them on. It is sad for Australia because many of these older workers are highly skilled

      Reply

    • Boomtime says:

      09:43am | 26/10/12

      Might be a bit late for you now, but we spent 2 years going round Australia when we were young and fit enough to enjoy it.
      Don’t leave it too late or the physical challenges will give you half an experience.
      We encountered too many people who were traveling with the hindrance of a triple bypass, dodgy hips and knees or just had a hard time with any type of exertion.

    • Onlooker says:

      10:01am | 26/10/12

      We did it when we were young too Boomtime but we were working, we worked in places like Paraburrdo and Pinjarra and Emerald and Woolongong and Darwin, and climbed Ularu ect but this time we just want to cruise around and do things like fishing and do touristy things and see what changes have happened since we last saw it.. Australia is a magnificent country

    • SKA says:

      09:48am | 26/10/12

      As bad as age discrimination is, I think the situation has substantially improved compared to what it was. My father was made redundant at 45 years old after 27 years with a multi-national company - he’d worked from the bottom, and ended up pretty much at the top. Not only was he unable to get a full time job again for just over 2 years, when he did, he had to take a substantial demotion. He was told by a fairly honest recruiter that his age was the problem - in his mid forties, he was considered “too old” (yeah pretty ridiculous when you think of it, isn’t it?). After that, he was pretty much head-hunted to each of his next jobs because he was over experienced, hard working, a good mentor to junior staff (one man he mentored still gives him the occasional call) but he never again reached the highs he had in the company he had been in for 27 years because of his age.  What I could never understand when he struggled to find work at a relatively young age was that if these companies looked into his background, they would have seen he had kids late in life and a substantial amount of time to support them aside from still being many years off retirement - he was hardly the type that was going to hop from place to place because of the need to support a family with consistent income.

      I think the situation has improved because these days, someone aged in their forties is recognised as being young (because for gods sake! They are!). Yes fifties is harder but I think we can start to have hope because attention is being drawn to the problem.

      Reply

    • Tony of Poorakistan says:

      09:59am | 26/10/12

      I cannot speak for all segments obviously, only IT, in which I worked for 30 years until recently. 
       
      I see the single biggest issue as being the unfettered introduction of cheap overseas labour. Why hire a 50 year-old Aussie, when you can get shit quality work from a 25 year-old 457 visa holder at half the price? Sure, they don’t add much to the economy here, since they send much of their money home and don’t consume anyway and, yes, the number of entrants to IT degree courses is dropping to the extent that all our intellectual capital will eventually reside in Chennai and Bangalore, but who cares? The job gets done more cheaply and those responsible for putting Aussies out of work can pat themselves on the back in the certain knowledge they have saved their shareholders a few shekels. 
       
      And the fact that the work is crap doesn’t matter because the decision makers will have added ‘‘successful outsourcing’’ to their CVs and moved on by the time the true depth of the damage is realised.
       
      The Government themselves are guilty of it, by outsourcing to companies like Wipro and Tata, or even IBM, who win contracts on the basis that they will be completed in Australia and then bring out employees of IBM India at cut-price rates. Perhaps the most galling thing about that is the necessity of teaching them their job, which then makes it more likely they’ll go on to put other Aussies out of work. 
       
      I know all of this first-hand. Despite my particular specialty being required more now than ever before; there are no jobs for us. They are all either in India or being performed in Australia by Indians. The few available have dropped in rate from $800 a day a few years ago to $300 a day now. 
       
      I’m no longer spending and there are thousands like me who are not. The flow on to the economy is, as yet, slight; but it will come. Centrelink insist that you run down all your savings before counting you as unemployed and for people who have received redundancies, this could take a while (Centrelink allow one week per $1000, so a $50K redundancy means a year before you pop up on the radar).

      I am coming to the realisation that, at 54, I may never work again, despite quite superb technical and business skills. I regret getting into IT and I have advised a number of young people not to do it. By the time they’d finished their degrees, all that would be left locally in terms of roles, would be server-jockeys and you’d make more money flipping burgers. 
       
      The medical profession should be truly grateful that their professional body, the AMA, is responsible for certifying overseas doctors and that their CEOs are not swayed by bonuses related only to the bottom line , or they too would be competing against foreigners offering consultations at discount rates and producing sub-standard work.

      Reply

    • andye says:

      12:26pm | 26/10/12

      @Tony - “know all of this first-hand. Despite my particular specialty being required more now than ever before; there are no jobs for us. They are all either in India or being performed in Australia by Indians. The few available have dropped in rate from $800 a day a few years ago to $300 a day now.  “

      What do you do exactly?

      @Tony - ” I regret getting into IT and I have advised a number of young people not to do it. By the time they’d finished their degrees, all that would be left locally in terms of roles, would be server-jockeys and you’d make more money flipping burgers. “

      Hmm, again this isn’t matching my reality. The market in some areas is fine. I suspect certain areas that are more generic IT are more susceptible to being outsourced.

    • Tony of Poorakistan says:

      03:03pm | 26/10/12

      well andye, I’ve been looking and apart from the aforementioned server jockeys, about all that is on offer are solution architects and business analysts, both of which are required more at the start of major projects ie define the requirements and the framework and then ship it off to India or hand it to a third party who will bring in 457 holders.  And there are less of those than there used to be.
       
      How many development, project management or testing roles have you seen advertised recently? Precious few I would imagine.Compare it to a few years ago ...

    • Anjuli says:

      10:19am | 26/10/12

      My husband now 80 ,thought he had found at 53 just the right job for him as he had been in management side of construction since his early 30’s then made redundant at 50 after many years ,he was shattered to say the least, they wanted a young team this was an international company .His new job was with a company who had been established for 10 years ,of course all the other staff was younger than he. After 3 years he found out why he had been employed by this firm, after sacking the last of all the foremen THEY had hired on their instructions, which was their agenda, they sacked my husband one News years eve.

      Reply

    • CHALLENGE says:

      11:20am | 26/10/12

      When you look at the big picture - there is no time or room for growing old gracefully. I have been fortunate enough (or maybe savvy enough) to still retain full time employment at the age of 56.  I have been in the workforce since the age of 19 and have battled along with the rest to counter sexism, prejudice, racism, inequality in wage structure and now ageism.
      It was, is and will always be a bit of an employment minefield when it comes to employing and/or retaining over 50’s unless employers are willing to bend a little and acknowledge the fact that not only do they gain the years of skill & knowledge that the over 50’s can offer - they also have the loyalty and dignity to stay the course.

      Reply

    • Debbie says:

      02:07pm | 26/10/12

      Shane ... this article is not about retired people. Its about working age persons, you know, those under retirement age not being able to gain employment due to being regarded as too old.

 
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