INTHEBLACK May 2022 - Magazine - Page 52
F E AT U R E
// A G E I S M
OPEN VIDEO IN A NEW WINDOW
“OLDER WORKERS, THAT IS 50 TO 60-YEAR-OLDS,
MAKE UP 18 PER CENT OF OUR POPULATION,
BUT 28 PER CENT OF OUR CANDIDATES. IT IS
DISPROPORTIONATE.”
FIONA LAMB, MAX SOLUTIONS
Above: Roxanne
Calder, EST10
Recruitment
52 ITB May 2022
Fiona Lamb, executive general manager,
employment services with MAX Solutions,
says that between 2018 and 2021, the
company’s cohort of mature-age job seekers
increased by 33.8 per cent, to more than
30,000 people.
She points to the company’s recent report,
Breaking the Age Barrier, which shows that
30 per cent of employers are reluctant to
hire mature-age candidates, while 85 per
cent of older job candidates say they perceive
reluctance from employers to hire older people.
“We wanted to shed some light on
what we thought is an issue, particularly
during the pandemic, and highlight
what’s been happening with some of our
mature candidates. Older workers, that is
50 to 60-year-olds, make up 18 per cent
of our population, but 28 per cent of our
candidates. It is disproportionate,” says
Lamb.
According to the Australian Government’s
2021 Intergenerational Report, 23 per cent
of the population is projected to be aged over
65 by 2060-2061, a rise of approximately
7 per cent from 2021. This means Australia’s
ageing population will reduce our national
labour force, contributing to projections for
slower growth of our GDP at 2.6 per cent
per annum for the next 40 years, compared
with 3 per cent for the past four decades.
“The average length of time for someone
to get back into the workforce when they are
over 50 can be up to two years. I think the
economic impact of this is huge. If we have
a whole lot of older workers who still have