Employees over 50 – a rethink is required

Older employees are inflexible, slow and expensive: a cliché that is far from reality. Experienced workers are a valuable resource for a company – both professionally and personally. Nonetheless; Anyone who is over 50 years old and is looking for a new challenge can have a difficult time today. Companies need to rethink their approach.

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In Switzerland, the employment rate for 50 to 64 year olds is relatively high at 81% (SECO, 2018), but the number is deceptive. In order to escape unemployment, many employees keep themselves afloat with odd jobs or become self-employed with occasional assignments. The motto: Anything but ending up on the RAV or even with social services. Because once you end up in the system, it is difficult to get out again. Older employees have to wait around 1.5 times longer before their job search is successful - and the risk of long-term unemployment is above average. More than a quarter of job seekers over the age of 50 have to accept the fact that they cannot find a job.

Averse to change and slow?

810 / 5,000 But why do older employees find it so difficult to find a new job? Perhaps it is due to the oft-repeated prejudice that older people are afraid of change and therefore no longer want to get used to new processes, methods and ways of working. A look at reality shows that this generalization has neither hand nor foot. Just as not every Millennial is a social media whiz, older employees are not change-averse per se. It is clear that the longer you follow a certain routine, the harder it is to get used to it. But this doesn't just apply to older employees, but to people in general. Routine and monotony lead to a decline in creativity and enthusiasm - regardless of age.

There are also prejudices regarding personnel costs. Higher pension fund contributions and many years of professional experience tend to make older employees more expensive, but older employees are often willing to negotiate. Once the children have flown away, the cost of living and thus wage expectations also fall. That's why the argument that older employees are too expensive is often untenable. In addition: Diversity - not only in terms of gender, but also in terms of origin, education and age - is a central success factor for companies. Diverse teams work more successfully. The McKinsey diversity study (2018) found that diversity makes a company twice as likely to be profitable.

New models: learning from each other

Anyone who writes off older employees per se is making a mistake. Because: A valuable resource that older employees bring with them is their considerable wealth of experience. Although young employees have the latest knowledge from training and studies, they often lack practical experience and empirical values. This is exactly where companies can start and introduce new internal collaboration models. Older and younger employees regularly exchange ideas on specific topics and tasks in a type of mentoring. This is how they learn and benefit from each other. Working in mixed-age teams also allows employees to use their individual strengths and skills in a profitable way.

Companies have responsibilities

In addition to their economic and ecological responsibility, companies also have a social responsibility: pushing over-50 employees to the sidelines is not only economically untenable - due to the loss of valuable experience and many years of knowledge - but also ethically untenable. In addition to financial losses, prolonged job searches and unemployment also have an impact on mental health. Those who are excluded from working life against their will often struggle with the feeling that they are no longer needed; not being able to contribute. In short: not being valuable.

When recruiting employees, companies should not ask themselves whether the candidate is too old, but rather what qualifications and skills he or she has and how the person fits into the team. All people have different experience, knowledge and skills. A company that knows its employees can also use them according to their individual profile. Ultimately, both sides benefit from this.

Doris Fink

Managing Director/Owner