According to a recent report from AHRI, not only are 1 in 5 of all employees not proficient in their roles, but 57% of all employers are saying that these skills gaps are impacting productivity.
The report, based on a survey of 607 senior businesspeople, also outlined how organisations are planning to address these skills gaps, with innovations including more skilled migration, better succession planning, collaboration with TAFEs and universities and even better graduate, internship and apprenticeship programs.
The one innovative idea that didn’t get a mention, was to hire experienced midlife people who already have the skills!
Take the tech sector as an example. By 2030, this sector is expected to be employing 1.2 million Australians. To reach that expectation, the tech sector will need to hire an additional 635,000 workers over the next 6 years.
However, vacancy rates in the tech sector are already 60% higher than the national average with the most severe shortages in the more technical occupations like software programming and computer networking.
The Tech Council of Australia’s (TCA) Digital Employment Forum has identified several key barriers to reaching these targets, amongst which includes attracting more older Australians.
Contextually, 36% of our population is currently over 50 with a 67% participation rate. People aged 50+ account for 6.2m workers, but less than 50% work in full-time positions. Our population is ageing and by 2040, people aged 50 – 59 years will be 15% greater by proportion of the working population. 40% of midlife Australians are open to working in tech, with, according to the TCA, 7% already having up to 80% of their current skills and experiences matched to those required by tech businesses.
There are many advantages to hiring midlife workers, so why do so many organisations hesitate to do so? Reasons not to hire midlife workers typically stem from misconceptions, practical concerns, or old school stereotyping, most of which are not valid but still influence, either consciously or subconsciously, too many organisations’ hiring decisions.
Ironically, given the earlier example, first amongst these stereotypes are that midlife workers are technologically inept and resistant to change.
Given that Apple launched the first smartphone way back in 2007, if you’re tertiary educated, you need to be older than 40 not to have started your first job with an iPhone in your pocket!
That aside, the stereotype that older people are technologically illiterate persists for several reasons, often tied to cultural assumptions, historical context, and cognitive biases. These assumptions are typically oversimplified and fail to reflect the diversity of abilities and experiences among all, not just midlife, adults.
There is however, a common (yet inaccurate) belief that cognitive abilities naturally decline with age, affecting learning capacity. This assumption leads people to believe that older individuals are less capable of learning new skills, including technology.
People in midlife may also use technology differently from younger generations, focusing on tools relevant to their work or personal lives rather than adopting every new social media platform or gadget. This selective usage can be misinterpreted as technological illiteracy, when in fact it reflects a more pragmatic or need-based approach to technology. It’s also largely erroneous given the parity of adoption of technology illustrated by data from AARP.
In almost all areas, apart from wearables, people aged 50+ demonstrate similar adoption patterns to younger people when it comes to the use of technology.
And when it comes to change, most people are resistant to change. However, the level of resistance depends on several factors, including personality, past experiences, the nature of the change, and how the change is managed. Resistance to change is a common psychological response because it often triggers uncertainty, fear of the unknown, and discomfort, but it's not inevitable or uniform across all individuals, and it isn’t determined by age.
Many older workers adapt well to change, especially when given the right resources and support. In fact, research and practical examples suggest that older workers can be as adaptable as their younger counterparts, often bringing valuable experience to managing and navigating change. Midlife workers have often lived through significant workplace changes over the years, including technological advancements, shifts in business models, and cultural transformations which make them better prepared to adapt.
In our Voice of Experience research amongst 1,150 Australian’s aged 50+, 77.8% were expecting to spend money on lifelong learning over the next 12 months and 63.8% confirmed that they were open to trying new things.
Ultimately, people aged 50+ are no more set in their ways, resistant to change or technologically illiterate than any other segment of society. However, the strengths of midlife workers—experience, willingness to learn, and adaptability—make them especially valuable, particularly in times of transition.