The realites about older workers

Despite the progress that has been made in most areas of workforce diversity throughout the US, discrimination, in all of its ugly forms, unfortunately persists. And as the population of older workers who choose to remain in the workforce beyond the traditional age of retirement increases over the coming years, age discrimination in the workplace will likely increase as well.

Most forms of discrimination have their origins in preconceived notions and stereotypes about a specific diversity group. The key to eliminating such stereotypes lies in quashing the myths that gave birth to them. When it comes to older workers, there are a number of myths that do not accurately characterize their skills and abilities as productive members of today’s workforce.

In an effort to defraud the myths and reveal the realities about older workers, I did some research and found a list of some of the stereotypes about older workers— that just are not true. Here are some of the myths—and the realities— about older workers:

Myth #1: Older workers do not remain on the job for very long. Reality: Not true at all. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled in 1998, workers between the ages of 45 and 54 stay on the job nearly twice as long as their younger counterparts, defined as workers between the ages of 25 to 34.

Myth #2: Older workers are set in their ways—they are not flexible and find it hard to adapt. Reality: Older workers have considerable experience in the workplace to the extent that they have seen several different approaches to workplace challenges fail. As such, they are perhaps more likely than their younger counterparts to question change. However, when the rationale behind change is explained, they accept such changes with the same level of ease as younger workers do.

Myth #3: Older workers have difficulty learning or outright refuse to learn new skills. Reality: Career changers in their 40s and 50s easily disprove this myth as they consistently take courses to enhance their marketable skills. And workers over 50 are also proving their ability to learn new skills as this group is the fastest growing group of Internet users.

Myth #4: Older workers are more expensive than other workers. Reality: While older workers do have more vacation time than their younger counterparts, they also have much lower turnover rates than other workers. Higher turnover means additional high costs in terms of hiring, recruiting and training expenses, which outweigh not only the vacation costs of older workers, but also their pension costs.

Myth #5: Older workers take more sick days than younger workers. Reality: Evidence shows that older workers have better attendance records than their younger counterparts. The same attendance assumption is often made by employers about disabled workers, who have a far better overall attendance rate than other workers.

In my opinion, these myths about older workers should not even exist. The fact of the matter is that rarely will a younger worker’s experience be at or even near par with an older worker’s experience. And while younger workers may be more technologically adept than older workers, in nearly every profession outside the arena of the Information Technology industry, experience is more valuable than technical ability.

Regardless, the continuing trend in today’s and in the future workforce is an increase in older workers in the US workforce. There’s a reason for that, and it’s not just because they cost less than other workers (comparatively speaking). Employers are not ignorant to the fact that older workers are truly valuable and they will continue to leverage their skills, abilities, wisdom, and experience until these workers ultimately decide to retire.