Suddenly 50: the aging workforce and its relationship with the company

Authors: Aline Lima and Wilson Amorim, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

Are companies prepared to integrate older workers?

The results reinforce findings from other studies (1-5) that suggest companies in the Brazilian context are not yet adequately prepared to attract and retain older workers due to a lack of policies and practices aligned with the needs and aspirations of these professionals.

Within the cohort of 100 companies acknowledged as “Amazing Places to Work”, 95% indicated they were implementing initiatives to attract and engage employees, while 52% were focused on ensuring internal diversity within their workforce. However, only 4% disclosed having specific policies and practices aimed at attracting professionals aged 50 or over.

What are these companies like?  

In summary, when comparing the selected companies, they are similar in having a greater concentration of professionals with secondary education, developing recruitment actions for at least four minority groups in addition to people aged 50 or over and offering their employees the option of flexible working hours.

And what about ageism?  

The stereotype associated with workers aged 50 and over is another significant factor affecting the relationship between companies and older workers, which must be addressed due to its detrimental impact on attracting and retaining these professionals. These aging workforce stereotypes include perceptions of being averse to change, inflexible, costly, unproductive, having limited ability to learn and use technological resources, fragile health, and lacking creativity (6-8).

Why does leadership matter?  

Another implication stemming from the research results is the imperative for companies to assess the readiness of their leaders to effectively manage older workers. Analysis of responses revealed that 37% of organisations declared having specific actions to prepare their young leaders to work with older subordinates, a figure slightly lower than the 42% that declared having actions to prepare these same leaders for managing younger subordinates. On this topic, it is worth mentioning that several researchers emphasise the importance of companies training their leaders to value and respect older workers (9-11). The image leaders and professionals have of older workers and their attitude toward these employees directly impacts the success of their hiring and retention.

Read the full research here. 

Author Bios: Aline Lima, Assistant Professor and Wilson Amorim, Associate Professor, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil 

References

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