Fwd: [sss-global] 5 Good Reasons To Hire Older Workers

This article, spotted by Sri V R Raghavendra Rao,  will be more useful to employers who hire retired people than to candidates seeking second career jobs. But applicants can arm themselves with these arguments when they go for interviews!

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5 Good Reasons To Hire Older Workers

-- Here are a few key advantages to older workers:

1. They have good leadership skills. Older workers make good leaders because they often have stronger communication skills than their younger colleagues.

"Older workers remember a time when communication wasn't dominated by e-mail, instant messaging, texting or social media," writes Debi Ritter at Corp Magazine. "As a result, they have advanced communication and people skills ... face-to-face communication is an essential skill in the business world and one that junior staff sometimes struggles with; they could benefit from having a mentor."

2. They're focused. Older people have been working their entire lives and are often not searching for the next opportunity like younger workers. They know exactly what they want to do and are focused on getting the work done. 

"Older workers tend to be more interested in stability where a recent college graduate might be most concerned about moving up the corporate ladder as quickly as possible," Ritter says.

According to a survey by the Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends project, 54% of workers older than 65 are still employed because they want to be — not because they need the money. 

The survey also found that 54% of workers age 65 and older say they are "completely satisfied" with their jobs, compared with just 29% of workers ages 16 to 64.

3. They're loyal. Since older workers are typically more satisfied with their jobs, they also tend to stay longer.

"Companies invest countless man hours and financial resources into the screening, hiring and training of new employees, only to find that many employees leave for 'greener pastures' after a few months as they ascend through their career path," Ritter says.

According to a report published by the BLS, "the length of time a worker remains with the same employer increases with the age at which the worker began the job." The report found that tenure for workers with their current employer was highest for the oldest workers at 10.2 years. For those between the ages of 55 and 64, this number was 9.9 years and for those between 45 and 54 years old it was 7.6 years.

4. They have a good work ethic. According to a 2010 Pew Research Center survey, "Nearly six in 10  respondents cited work ethic as one of the big differences between young and old. Asked who has the better work ethic, about three-fourths of respondents said that older people do."

In a report published by Randstad Work Solutions, 90% of the respondents who were older said that being "ethical" is "extremely or very important" to workplace culture, whereas 83% of Gen X workers and 66% of Gen Y workers agreed.

5. They have strong networks. Older workers have been in the workforce longer and they've had more time to meet people and network along the way. According to a study conducted by The Center on Aging and Work at Boston College, 46.3% of employer respondents said that their older employees have stronger professional networks and client networks compared to 30% who said the same about their younger workers

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/5-good-reasons-to-hire-older-workers-2013-7#ixzz2aluLRolo

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