New research from Jobs and Skills Australia has found that businesses hiring a mature age applicant in the past 12 months did so because of their experience, reliability, positive attitude, strong work ethic, qualifications and skills. In general, larger or medium-sized employers, and businesses in regional areas, were more likely to recall having mature age applicants.
Businesses with roles that required a higher level of technical skills, such as Machinery Operators and Drivers, cited experience and qualifications as the main reason for hiring mature wage workers, whereas those hiring in the Labourer occupation group, which includes workers such as cleaners, cited attitude and work ethics above experience.
JSA Commissioner, Professor Barney Glover, says “It is vitally important that mature age people are engaged in the labour force for as long as they wish to work. Retaining older workers will help offset the effects of Australia’s large ageing population, the Baby Boomers, exiting the labour market.”
While the mature age unemployment rate is low, at 2.8% in June 2024, and participation rate relatively strong for 55-64-year-olds at 69.6%, when mature age workers lose their job, they can face the greatest difficulty in finding a new job. ABS data shows it took on average around 20-months for a mature age worker to find a new job, compared to approximately nine months for 15-54-year-olds.
Some 221,000 potential workers (that is, those who wanted to work) aged 55 and over are not actively looking for work, with one in five employers considering them too old to work. This was the second most common reason given for not seeking work, behind their own illness or disability.
A lack of relevant experience, skills or a better candidate were the three top reasons employers did not hire a mature age applicant, followed by health or fitness issues.
In fewer cases employers didn’t hire because of a worker’s available hours, unrealistic expectations, being overqualified, and lacking computer skills.
In most cases, employers didn’t make any changes to assist the mature age worker, but of the almost one in five that did, the provision of flexible hours and location was the most common strategy found in 32% of employers. In many cases those conditions were available to all staff.
About the research
This research was undertaken between August and November 2023 when a set of supplementary questions was added to JSA’s monthly Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey. During this time, interviewers spoke with over 1000 employers who were both directly involved with the recruitment of staff and had had at least one mature age applicant in the previous 12 months.
