Baby boomers – here’s why (some of) our kids hate us

By Neil Patrick

If you want to know how some of the gen Yers see us, then this piece by Australian blogger Mark Fletcher is an example. If you’re a baby boomer, it’s tempting to simply go into denial and rebuttal when you read his fiery rhetoric, but I think if you can see past the rage, he makes some valid points about for example the failures of government institutions to lead effectively.

But overall, I think his arguments are naïve and driven more by anger than understanding. You cannot hold a whole generation corporately responsible for anything. We didn’t hold the whole of Germany accountable for the crimes of the Nazi regime; if we accept Mark’s reasoning, it would follow that we should have done…and presumably murdered every surviving German person in 1945. It’s ironic therefore that one of his ‘recommendations’ is the removal of voting rights from everyone over 40 years old. Isn’t that a bit erm..fascist Mark?

It also conveniently fails to mention what the gen Yers have done which is really any different from what the boomers have done. They have just whinged a bit more and are seeking out culprits for their angst. If you want culprits Mark, I think you are looking in the wrong place.

Perhaps though this inter-generational blaming attitude highlights one really important point. If we have failed as a generation, we have failed because we put our trust in the wrong leaders and the wrong economic policies. And because of that error, we have failed to win the trust and respect of (some of) our own children.

What do you think? I'd welcome your thoughts in the comments section below.

Here’s Mark’s post:



The Baby Boomers had their chance to create the society into which they wanted to retire and they dropped the ball. They don't deserve our help, writes Mark Fletcher.

By Mark Fletcher
Back when I was a kid, old people had fought in a war. They could tell you stories about growing up in the Great Depression, about the spread of mass manufactured cars, and about personally trying to shoot Hitler. When they retired, they looked back on a long life of hard work, of securing our freedoms, and of not understanding how to programme the VCR.

Today, old (sic) people are rubbish. They’ve never done anything worthwhile. They happily took handouts from several economic booms and completely failed to invest in infrastructure like their parents’ generation had done for them.

In Australia, they crafted a completely nuts housing market where housing prices head steadily upwards (which will be paid for by their children’s generation); meanwhile, they enjoyed free education (again, paid for by their parents’ generation) which they subsequently denied to their children. The media companies they own write article after article about how ‘Gen Y’ has a bad attitude and feels entitled to jobs and conditions of employment. Now they have the freaking audacity to claim that they want to retire and have my generation pay for it.

Sod ‘em, the lazy swine. If you didn’t fight a Nazi, you don’t get to retire. You certainly don’t get to retire on my dime.

Boomers only ever cared about themselves?
Credit:  Alfabille (Own work) CC-BY-SA-3.0

The problem with my ‘Let them become Soylent Green cake’ attitude is that, one day, I shall be old and I will want to retire. With a bunch of old people currently hogging all the political power making the sort of short-sighted decisions that you’d expect from people who won’t survive to see the consequences, the future doesn’t look bright and rosy for my retirement (which apparently will be in the year 2105).

The Per Capita think tank released an awkwardly phrased report last week called Still Kicking:

The ageing of the population will see the number of people aged 65 to 84 years more than double, and the number of people aged 85 and over more than quadruple. As a result, the proportion of people who are of working age will decline as a proportion of the whole population.

Clearly this conclusion doesn’t follow. The sentence ‘The number of people who are of working age is not expected to increase by as much’ is missing, which is weird given that the rest of the report is dedicated to increasing the number of people who are of working age.

Per Capita gives us the usual handwaves typical of Australia’s think tanks. We could change the working age to include more people and ‘reconceptualise’ retirement. We could tinker with superannuation. We can gear our health system towards making sure that people are economic cogs for longer. And so on and so forth. All the low-hanging fruit was dutifully picked.

Not to be outdone, the number-crunchers at the Grattan Institute got out their sliderules and abaci to put together a chapter in their Balancing Budgets report about retirement:

Increasing to 70 the age of access to the Age Pension and superannuation (the ‘retirement age’) is one of the most economically attractive choices to improve budgets in the medium term. It could ultimately improve the budget bottom line by $12 billion a year in today’s terms, while producing a lift in economic activity of up to 2 per cent of GDP.

What both Per Capita and the Grattan Institute are saying is that previous generations have screwed up the general revenue base so heinously that everybody needs to work more to pay for the retirees.

Further, both organisations are setting the policy gears to resolve the problems of today’s old fogey. They let the health system deteriorate and now health care is expensive. Shock. They let the infrastructure deteriorate and now they don’t have the labour mobility that they need to get a job. Horror. They let the education system collapse and now they can’t reskill into new industries. Surprise. They let general revenue get whittled away on pork barreling and now there’s no money left.

As a result, intergenerational policy is being colonised and dominated by economic, labour, and health policies. How can we afford to keep old people? How can we unlock the potential labour of old people and translate it into GDP? How can we manage the health needs of the elderly?

It is an approach that conceptualises homo senilis as if they had sprung out of the earth and suddenly (like mushrooms) come to full maturity without all kind of engagement to each other.

There was society and it was functioning and then - completely by surprise - there were all these old people who had special needs and who needed things.

A better, more sophisticated, approach is to work out what sort of society we (that is, people under the age of 35) want for our retirement and then set the policy gears now to achieve it. Do we want a society of lifelong learning? Then we need an education policy to gut the current education system which considers education over by age 25 and de-link technical education from the research sector. Do we want a society of non-manual labour? Then we need an industry policy to let the manufacturing sectors crash, a research policy to invest in better industries, and a legislative policy to improve protections for intellectual property. Do we want to enjoy a retirement like our great grandparents had? Then we need a fiscal policy to diversify the revenue streams of the Government so it relies less on income taxes. And so on and so forth.

The easiest way for us to achieve this utopian future is to rescind the voting rights of any person over the age of 40. The Baby Boomers have made it clear that we’ll have to take the reins of government from their cold, dead hands, but they’ve demonstrated that they can’t be trusted to manage themselves. They’ll live longer and they’ll vote longer; and they’ll vote for parties that promise to stamp out ‘Aged Discrimination’ (which is code for forcing the rest of us to pay their indulged way).

They had their chance to create the society into which they wanted to retire and they dropped the ball. Our policymakers shouldn’t be putting out the fires of yesterday, and we definitely shouldn’t develop policies which exonerate their hideous mistakes.

Mark Fletcher is a Canberra-based blogger and policy wonk who writes about conservatism, atheism, and popular culture. He blogs at OnlyTheSangfroid. This article was originally published onAusOpinion.com.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/11/29/comment-will-you-still-employ-me-when-i-m-64

Australia shows the way ahead to keep older workers in the workplace

By Terry Hayes

The issue of how to take advantage of the skills and experience of older workers is becoming more important as baby boomers age and leave the workforce. All that experience "walking out the door" is a loss for any business. And many older people simply don't want to retire at the age of 65 (or earlier).

SMEs in particular don't need barriers raised to them employing mature age workers; after all, many of them are family businesses that highly value the input of older more experienced family members.

The federal government recently launched the Australian Law Reform Commission's report, Access All Ages - Older Workers and Commonwealth Laws. In the report, the commission identifies legal barriers to older persons participating in the workforce and made recommendations across superannuation, social security, employment, insurance and compensation law. Several recommendations were to the effect that the social security and superannuation systems should not discourage or prevent workforce participation.

ALRC president Professor Rosalind Croucher said the recommendations had been developed in the light of six interlinking principles – participation, independence, self-agency, system stability, system coherence, and fairness – that assisted in balancing a range of competing priorities. The ALRC suggests a combination of legislative and regulatory reform is needed, together with measures to increase education and awareness and address perceptions and stereotypes surrounding mature age workers.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus acknowledged there were "enormous opportunities" that come with an ageing population, including a more experienced workforce and the availability of mentors for younger workers. If laws need to be changed to take advantage of those opportunities, then many would argue that should be done.

Employment Minister Bill Shorten noted the government has also abolished the Super Guarantee maximum age limit, enabling employees aged 70 and over to contribute to their retirement savings for the first time. He said the government would consider the recommendations made.

The government says that for more than five million baby boomers, there's a realistic chance of 20-30 years of life after work, but it said around 60% want to keep working beyond 65 for a range of reasons, with most preferring a phased withdrawal from the workforce. No doubt many SMEs would agree.

In its 36 recommendations, the report recommended:

• the work test for superannuation be reviewed;
• the legislation that provides for government co-contributions to be payable only for people aged under 71 years should be repealed;
• the Government review the "Transition to Retirement" rules. The report said the review should determine what changes, if any, are required to ensure the rules meet their policy objective. Among issues for review would be the relationship to the concessional superannuation contributions cap;
• mature age workers be provided with longer periods of notice for termination of employment;
• the Australian Human Rights Commission should, in consultation with key insurance and superannuation bodies, develop guidance material about the application of any insurance exception as it applies to age under Commonwealth anti-discrimination legislation; and
• the Guide to Social Security Law should be amended to provide that undertaking paid work for fewer than 30 hours per week will not trigger a review of qualification for Disability Support Pension.

The other recommendations in the report are specific strategies in the implementation of a national plan, designed to provide:

• a coordinated policy response to enable mature age workforce participation;
• consistency across Commonwealth laws and between Commonwealth and state and territory laws to support mature age workforce participation;
• a reduction in age discrimination;
• a greater awareness of mature age workers' rights and entitlements;
• support for maintaining attachment to the workforce for mature age persons;
• work environments, practices and processes that are appropriate for mature age workers.

The value for a business in harnessing the skills and experience of an older worker is obvious. It's a shame that over the years, too many obstacles have been put (mostly unintentionally) in the way of that.

The age-old idea of an older worker moving on to make way for younger people is not of itself unreasonable, but that doesn't mean that "older head" is no longer useful – quite the reverse. Perhaps this latest report will spur some concrete action on the part of governments to rectify this. SMEs could be a winner from such action.


Terry Hayes is the Editor-in-Chief of tax news reporting at Thomson Reuters, a leading Australian provider of tax, accounting and legal information solutions.
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/superannuation/055909-superannuation-older-workers-baby-boomers-ageism-and-workplace-participation-reforms.html

We should use, not lose, our senior brain power

By Harold Mitchell

There's a lot of talk these days about work/life balance and I think we have mostly got it all wrong. Work is life and life is work. It's not a choice between the two - it's about choosing to be happy and positive no matter what we are doing or how old we are. There's an old Zen Buddhist saying, "Before enlightenment - chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment - chop wood and carry water''. My 92-year-old dad lives this literally. Last weekend he told me how happy he is that winter is approaching up in the mountains where he lives. It means that he can get out his trusty axe and split wood for the fire. He's an expert and you need to be. The trick is to turn the axe head a millisecond before it hits the block of wood. Three kilos of fast-moving razor-sharp axe head in inexperienced hands can do a lot of damage. More than 80 years of log-splitting will probably ensure my dad makes 100. Age is no barrier to him keeping the home fires burning by working each day. The same is true for my once-a-year lunch partner, octogenarian Peter Clemenger, the former head of our greatest advertising agency. He is as active as ever and as sharp as my old man's axe. As is emeritus professor Derek Denton, founder of the Florey Institute, one of the world's greatest neuroscience facilities and located here in Australia. At 88, he is overflowing with ideas that people all over the world are still listening to. I had a cup of tea with him earlier this week and he told me about the latest experiments being undertaken by his research group, which includes brilliant scientists both here and in America. They are doing world-leading work on addiction, something that profoundly affects almost every aspect of our society. Passing the so-called age of retirement does not mean that we have to enter the age of uselessness or even idleness. Just have a look at the busy, creative and internationally important work of that great Australian Jim Wolfensohn. The former head of the World Bank is still on international boards and apart from his amazing business acumen, those who know Jim, marvel at the way he took up the cello at 51 - some 45 years after the brain cells were at their peak for picking up new things. At an earlier time, as part of the organising group of the outstanding Alfred Deakin Lecture Series just on a decade ago, I sat listening to Baroness Susan Greenfield, who at 62 is still one of the world's leading neuroscientists. She explained the functioning of the brain very simply - "use it or lose it". And that's the message for Australia - use the experienced brain power of our senior people or lose out on the essential ingredient that money and youth can't buy - wisdom. Too often, we hear younger people saying ''he's too old'', and in the advertising and marketing industry it's commonplace for the jeans clad, sneaker-wearing, ponytailed hipsters to try to rely on raw youthfulness to get them through. Sure we need the youth but we also need the wisdom of age. Some time ago I was a speaker at a conference in Sydney about China with the Chinese Minister for Propaganda and Bob Hawke. I felt like a youngster with a lot to learn as the 84-year-old former prime minister engaged with the 81-year-old Chinese leader, a member of the 18th Politburo Standing Committee. I can tell you without a doubt, Hawkie has not lost it. So with ANZAC Day just passed, we must continue to be mindful of all of those who gave their lives for this country. We need to remember that the purpose of their great sacrifice was to enable us to use our freedom well. And in my book, that means understanding and accepting that life is work and service. By the way, you might remember that $428 haircut I got in New York. Well, it didn't last, I had to get another one last week! Harold Mitchell is an executive director of Aegis. Source:The Age http://news.olderworkers.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=326:we-should-use-not-lose-our-senior-brain-power-&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=31

2013: The Year of the Mature Worker

By Heidi Holmes, Managing Director of Adage.com.au – Australia’s leading job board for mature age workers.

Up until now, mature workers have not really been on the agenda for many employers, not only because of negative perceptions, but more so from a lack of leadership.

Australia’s Ageing Population

 

Over the past few years there has been no shortage of research or commentary on the implications of Australia’s ageing population and workforce. According to current predictions as cited by the Financial Services Council by 2050 there will only be 2.7 working Australians for every person over 65. To put this into context, in the 1970′s this ratio was 7.5. Successive editions of Treasury’s Intergenerational Reports have consistently acknowledged the need for our labour force participation rate to increase, particularly with regard to workers over the age of 50.

There is no denying that negative perceptions and stereotypes portraying ‘older workers’ as difficult, slow, expensive and not tech savvy have had an impact on the hiring intentions of employers and recruiters.

 

Despite research and case studies finding that mature workers actually offer in many cases a better return on investment for business, mature workers face an uphill battle in the recruitment process.

As the workforce ages, employee retention and knowledge management are becoming increasingly important for both the private and the public sectors. A recent survey of more than 1000 employers by the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) found that nearly half of them reported that the departure of older workers from their workplace in the last year had resulted in a loss of key knowledge and skills.

Still, it appears many are doing little to resolve it, with AIM’s ‘Skills Gap’ report finding that just 3% of organisations with a skills shortage are providing mentoring or coaching roles for retired or long-standing employees to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and skills to less experienced employees.

Make your workplace mature-age-worker friendly

 

If you are keen to make your organisation mature-age-worker friendly, but not exactly sure how to go about it, here are some tips to help you and your HR team get started, both in recruiting and retaining talented and experienced older employees.

·        Review job advertisements to ensure age-friendly content;

·        Avoid words such as dynamic, fast-paced, young;

·        Advertise where older people are more likely to see it, such as specialist job boards targeting mature workers;

·        Ensure hiring managers are educated on the benefits of hiring mature workers, removing any unconscious bias that may exist;

·        Formally acknowledge mature workers in your diversity policy.

·        Review your organisation’s workforce age profile; and

·        Implement an intergenerational mentor program between employees.

Creating Champions

 

This is not to say employers aren’t hiring mature age workers – many are, however it is often with little fanfare. Others may be aware of the value of this asset, but need assistance in deploying it.

That is why the Federal Government has recently committed to providing funding for employers to sign up to the revised Corporate Champions project.

The objective of the program is to build workplaces that value the experience of older Australians and increase the recruitment of mature age job seekers. This is to be achieved through the provision of advice and support to help individual employers realise the value of a diverse, flexible and loyal workforce. DEEWR

The Corporate Champions project represents a fantastic opportunity for employers to gain access to a professional assessment of their current workforce demographics and recruitment and retention practices leading to the development of a strategic action plan.

The Government funded consultation will also include assistance with developing strategies to address any areas for improvement as identified in the initial review. This could include updating recruitment processes, rolling out flexible working arrangements and implementing mentoring programs to improve retention.

The over-arching challenge lies in not only further educating employers on the benefits of hiring mature workers, but also creating a broader culture where employers actually aspire to being an ‘age-friendly’ employer, along the lines of what has been achieved with regard to gender and employers wanting to be an ‘employer of choice’ for women.

Through the Corporate Champions initiative, it is envisaged that more employers will see the benefits of recruiting mature workers whose skills, experience and diversity enhance workplaces and increase productivity.

In partnership with Sageco, Adage is thrilled to announce that we have been successful as a provider for the expansion of the Corporate Champions program for 2013 – 2016.

If you’d like to find out more about the program or to register your interest in becoming a Corporate Champion, contact Adage today.

Heidi Holmes is the managing director of Adage.com.au a mature age job search site and online community for jobseekers aged 45-plus. If you would like to find out more about the benefits of mature workers please contact Heidi directly at Heidi@adage.com.au.