Transition from the labour market
A union secretary said the real question about older workers was, “how to let people step down and maintain dignity. Some of the older guys are struggling but they don’t want to be seen as weak … It’s a man thing.”
Almost every industry sector we spoke to identified the ageing workforce as a looming issue, but it became apparent that little sector planning was being done to address impending skill shortages. “This is a ticking time bomb,” said one economic development agency representative, with another indicating his region faces a “black hole between trade apprentices and older workers”. A manager in a Feilding meat-processing plant said “we’re very aware of the issue and there is increasing understanding that it is a problem but we’ve had less success in the industry in deciding what to do about it.”
Some strategies to retain ageing workers were being considered, like flexible work arrangements and mentoring schemes using retired or semi-retired business people such as that brokered by the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce. However, we saw little evidence of systemic approaches being taken in a response to a looming demographic wave and labour market shortages.
We heard that conversations with older workers about their intentions and future options were difficult and avoided by employers for fear of being misconstrued as discriminatory. Former public servant, Quentin Doig, who also appeared in the National Conversation video, challenged employers and policy makers to identify “what are they doing about trying to keep people like me in senior management in employment”. Other older workers indicated that they had lost equity and assets underpinning their retirement savings and would therefore have to work beyond 65 years. For some older workers nearing retirement, for example at Marsden Point, staying connected to their former workplace was important because of social and emotional ties. A succession planning scheme has been developed in Otago called the Beyond Business Succession Planning Service. A programme advisor said “positive motivation is essential, so I also concentrate on getting the psychological and emotional barriers to succession planning sorted. Unlocking with that key makes a real difference.”
Older people we talked to in the course of the project who had retired from the paid workforce were often very active as unpaid workers (volunteers) in the community or supporting whanau. Wellingtonian Julie Dwyer, talking about her and husband Mike’s very busy day at Maraeroa marae said “I had this fond sort of vision that we were retired and that we would just float out towards the sunset there and do whatever we liked when we liked. Ha ha. It didn’t work out like that at all.”
Older community volunteers in New Plymouth spoke of the impending crisis they see around the unaffordability of undertaking unpaid work. They said, “social services which rely on volunteers are feeling the pinch; funding is drying up and the cost of volunteering is becoming too expensive”, reducing the pool of volunteers. The costs for those on fixed budgets, including the cost of petrol and vehicle maintenance, meant people were losing the ability to contribute. It was felt the community would lose social capital and cohesion as a consequence.
| “I am a volunteer fireman. The whole crucial volunteer sector is really under threat. The strain can be huge for employers who are trying to support the staff members’ absences with time and money when they are away. Most employers can’t afford it …. the whole thing could collapse.” |
A Manawatu knitwear manufacturer described the ageing workforce as a “massive problem”. Some of its negative manifestations related to health and well-being, with sick pay being used up quickly, “weary bones and RSI”. On the positive side, the same manufacturer had an intensely loyal workforce.
Of the eight employees spoken to, five had worked for the company for more than 15 years, with one employee racking up 30 years as a machinist, one 25 years, and two at 20 years each. The workers, too, recognise the difficulties faced by an ageing workforce.
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“If ten of us old ducks were to retire at the same time there would not be ten young ducklings to take our place.” |
Professional women in Palmerston North who had recently retired spoke of the “tremendous culture shock” of being out of the paid workforce, similar to that faced by many professional men who fear the loss of identity and status when they retire. They spoke of “loss of self-esteem and the fact that what you do is bound up with who you are”. One woman asked: “Who am I when I don’t do what I once did?” Another said, “My whole life changed. It was like [having] an identity crisis.”
While one woman described her age group as the lucky generation in terms of retirement income from national superannuation, others said that interrupted careers meant that women had a much shorter time to build up retirement savings.
A group of Christchurch women talked about “granny work” and a group in South Auckland encouraged Pacific grandfathers to become involved in early childhood education. A group of women in Christchurch referred to a Norwegian scheme called “Grandfathers in kindergartens” which they thought sounded promising.
Other participants observed that older people were still actively engaged in the workforce well past traditional notions of retirement age. In Hawke’s Bay we met a supervisor of a gang of older seasonal workers, “grey gypsies”, who was himself in his eighties.
Everywhere in New Zealand there are examples both of inspirational older workers who have chosen to stay working and of others who have to work longer and would like different work conditions but are too afraid to ask. Employers are profoundly anxious about the implications of an ageing workforce and there remains an urgent need for sector-led active labour market strategies around retention and transition.