Older workers could help solve the talent crisis for understaffed employers

Kieran McKeown, managing director of Matrix Recruitment, has a suggestion for employers struggling to fill vacancies: tap into the seriously underutilised talent resource of retirees and older workers.

“There’s a popular saying that ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ and this notion is certainly prevalent in Ireland,” he says. “We did some research recently and 68 per cent of people surveyed said ageism is an issue. Considering that the age at which people can retire is only set to increase, this prevailing attitude towards career progression and employment opportunities for those over 50 is concerning.

“Unfortunately, a belief persists that the older you are, the less capable, less adaptable and less willing you will be to open yourself up to new skills and challenges,” McKeown adds.

“In our experience this is not so and what this attitude misses is people’s experience and life skills and the fact that they are likely to be very loyal and to stay with a company longer. Many older workers want to keep working and still have so much to contribute if they’re given the opportunity. ”

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It was precisely this reluctance to be put out to grass that inspired Tony Devine, Declan Hughes and Mick Furlong to set up Grey Matters in 2015 to look at how they could make use of their accumulated experience outside the traditional corporate structure.

All three had long senior careers in management in the multinational sector behind them and, with no desire to retire, they started a network to promote the experience and skills of older workers.

The network quickly grew to more than 300 members with experience across all sectors and all roles. Today, it has more than 650 members, mostly with senior-management and director-level backgrounds, and members are matched to companies that need help for a short period rather than full-time.

Recognising that the network’s growth was set to continue, Grey Matters merged with the business consultancy firm Auxilia in April.

Experience

“It was a good fit,” says Tony Devine. “These guys have twice as much fuel left in the tank and double our ambition, and the merger combines the best of a dynamic, youthful team with a strong vision for the future and a network of older heads who’ve racked up a lot of experience.”

Significantly, however, the new entity will be known as the Auxilia Group because market research into what the new company should be called showed a decided prejudice against anything with the word “grey” attached.

“We found that ‘grey’ tended to create a subconscious bias,” Devine says. “So, from now on the emphasis will be less on the grey and more on the expertise of our members, and we are already seeing much more interest in our proposition as a result.”

Devine adds that, with the employment market now so tight, companies need to revisit their fixation with making permanent hires to cope with what are essentially transient needs in their business.

“A case in point is companies upgrading their technology,” he says. “Maybe it’s to do with digital transformation or to better service their ecommerce offering, but whatever the reason, the length of time it takes to accomplish something like this is typically short, maybe six or 12 months or so. This doesn’t need a full-time position created to see it through. A short-term appointment or contract is a more elegant and less costly solution.”

Kieran McKeown points out that no one bats an eyelid when someone comes out of retirement in sport. “In Formula 1, two-time champion Alonso announced his retirement in 2018 but after two years he was back in the driving seat and had reignited his F1 profession. So why not normalise coming out of retirement for all workers who wish to return to the workforce?” he says.

For individuals who are nervous about the prospect of resuming work or companies that are reluctant to employ older workers, McKeown suggest returnships as an option that provide a degree of comfort for both sides. Like internships, these are formally paid placements that can be used to support and retrain older workers as they transition back into the workforce.

“Ageism is clearly a form of discrimination but it can often be caused by unconscious bias,” McKeown adds. “Managers may not be aware of the negative stereotype they are subconsciously projecting on to mature candidates. Unconscious-bias training can help people become aware of their subconscious prejudices.”

‘Over the hill’

Mark O’Donnell, managing partner at executive search company, Odgers Berndtson, says that before the financial crash of 2008/09, ageism was prevalent at a senior level in Irish business.

“We were seeing people who were worried about being over the hill in their early 50s, which was ludicrous,” he says. “That’s pretty much gone, and companies are more open to considering someone older because of their experience. In general people are taking much better care of themselves these days, so they’re fitter and present well and it’s less about age and more about their energy and what they have to offer.

“What we often see with people in their 60s is that they go into a company on a contract for a couple of years with the option to renew, which suits both sides,” adds O’Donnell, who says that overall the senior management recruitment market is buoyant, particularly in tech, consumer and pharma, but that there has been a slowdown in financial services.