December 14, 2011 Christina Hardman
“…Retirement seems out of the question for increasing numbers of Americans who are saddled with debt and whose savings evaporated during the recent bust. Today’s workers should expect to labor longer, and companies should expect to employ more older workers,” explains Harvard professor Edward L. Glaeser in the New York Times in November (for full article, see http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/opinion/sunday/retirement-goodbye-golden-years.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=older%20workers&st=cse).
This new reality means that CAEL and the sites that are part of our Tapping Mature Talent (TMT) project are doing their best to change employers’ views of mature workers and help them recognize their value. Mature workers have a strong work ethic, lower absentee rates, and are reliable and loyal.
They bring many other advantages. For example, mature workers show a strong capacity and willingness to learn new tasks, processes, and technologies; they are frequently willing to offer employers flexibility to ramp up and down with the fluctuation of market demands; and they can help employers meet skill shortages.
What else do you think mature workers bring to the table?