By 2050, 21% of the world’s population will be over 60 years old. Are we ready to seize their knowledge and ...
By 2050, 21% of the world’s population will be over 60 years old. Are we ready to seize their knowledge and experience?
By Martín Padulla for staffingamericalatina
The human being is living longer than ever. The most developed countries in the world are going through a process called “aging population”. By 2050, 21% of the world’s population will be older than 60 years old.
What are the countries concerned with this issue doing about it? They are working on two main areas: temporary work (projects) and promotion of entrepreneurship.
Why are they working on this? There are several hypothesis: the first is that pensions are no longer and will never again be what they were. There are several causes, but the core idea is that retirement is no longer an option for many elderly people as incomes are not enough to keep the previous standard of living. The evolution of science is another important factor: being 65 years old today is extremely different than being that age in the 70s. A large percentage of adults who currently are older than 60 years old are very active, healthy and have great deals of energy.
The website RetiredBrains.com develops content for retired people or for those who plan to retire. The creator of the website is 80 years old and he decided to develop the site after working 40 years in advertising and noticing that there was no information in the internet for elderly people.
Employers are understanding the need of making the most of all that knowledge and experience to strengthen the organization and the growth of human capital. The movie The Intern released last years and amazingly performed by Robert De Niro might be a clear example of the quality of that contribution.
Private employment agencies are playing a major role in this area. They are efficient matching supply and demand and consulting firms about the potential contribution of elderly people to certain projects. These agencies are strategic allies for senior workers to get labour opportunities that enable them to remain in the market and get additional incomes.
Public policies that support senior entrepreneurs’ initiatives are starting to multiply. Nobody understands senior customers better than… senior entrepreneurs.
A research published by the American Association of Psychology, called “Bridge Employment and Retirees’ Health: A Longitudinal Investigation” (2009), states that retired people who transition from full time jobs to temporary or part time jobs tend to suffer fewer serious diseases and are able to function better on a daily basis than their peers who stopped working and have no activities to fill their still productive time.
The psychological approach can be complemented with the sociological one. In many cases, remaining in employment, such as De Niro’s case in the movie mentioned, is not a matter of money, but of intellectual commitment, socialization and preventing the chance of becoming isolated. Human beings are social beings and work is a very important agent of secondary socialization.
Some time ago, a lovely 90 years old lady told me that she worked as a personal trainer. She explained to me that she would fetch a friend of hers which was younger but less active to “force” her to walk. That comment, which was made as a joke back then, has become a reality in certain developed markets. Senior adults, older than 70 years old are trainers of healthy elderly persons aged 85 or 90 years old. Many jobs are being created to tend to the needs of active senior adults and, in several cases, those jobs are filled by people who are in the first age group of that category. Some of these jobs are being created by senior entrepreneurs.
What are the best countries to get old? According to the Global AgeWatch Index, developed by HelpAge International, Switzerland is the best country while the nations of our region are number 20, with Panama getting the best score.
In Switzerland, almost 60% of people aged between 60 and 64 years old have a job. When looking at the 55 to 65 years old group, 20% of men and 60% of women work part time. The countries that score best in the ranking are Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Canada, Holland, Iceland, Japan, United States and United Kingdom. They are all modern labour markets.
A case of study is Norway, where the participation rate in the age group 60-64 reaches 64.5% and goes down to 27.9% in the 65-60 segment. In 2011 Norway implemented a reform in its pension system to encourage citizens to work. It went from being a model where universal pension age was 67 years old –in which the incentives for people to remain in employment where unimportant- to a flexible pension from 62 to 75 years old, which enables the combination of pension and work. The interesting fact is that labour participation among people over 62 years old has grown since 2011 and the larger increase takes place in the youngest groups.
By 2000, only 11% of the population aged 65 to 70 years old in Canada used to work. Today, the percentage has grown to 24% and 40% work on their own. According to local experts, the challenge is double: on the one hand, employers must design strategies to recruit and retain older workers. On the other hand, the Canadian government must consolidate the “Initiative addressed to older workers” (TIOW) to help this happen.
In the United Kingdom, the modification of the age to receive state pension will force many elderly people to remain active. Men used to retire at 65 years old and women at 60, but the new scheme will progressively rise the retirement age until getting to 68 years old for both genders by 2050. The presence of elderly adults working in temporary jobs, as freelancers or as part of a project can already be seen in the modern British labour market.
What features characterize the countries where policies for elderly adults exist? The common feature is that they have modern, flexible, dynamic and inclusive labour markets. The so called Workforce Solutions Ecosystem is sophisticated, with companies that provide a wide range of services that accelerate the right matching of labour supply and demand. The entrepreneur ecosystem is strong, has real incentives and little bureaucracy. And another fact that might help is that preconceptions or prejudices towards senior adults are lower than in other countries.
What is going on in Latin America? We are in a context of demographic transition. In Mexico over 18 thousand people are over 100 years old, in Argentina there are over 3 thousand and in Chile almost 2 thousand. Some call this phenomenon the Fourth Age.
In the region, around 10% of the population are over 60 years old. The estimated percentage of senior adults for 2050 will be around 20 and 25% over the entire population. In Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Panama the percentage of senior adults who have a pension is close to 75%. However, the poor value of pensions plus the physical and psychological capacity of several senior adults encourages their participation in the labour market.
It is necessary to encourage companies to welcome the idea of making the most of senior talent and to extend tools that enhance entrepreneurship to senior entrepreneurs too.
In Chile, the platform ServiSenior.cl connects the senior segment with clients who require their services. Many of the clients who demand services are also senior adults. Through the platform, they access flexible and well paid jobs. Though some do not know the term, the “uberization” of work has reach them too.
Everything seems to indicate that employability will no longer be an issue that only concerns youth. Our senior adults will have to unlearn and adapt with new skills based on demand.
For many, this is a challenge filled with adrenaline and excitement. In that case, there is plenty of experience.
About Martin Padulla
Founder and Managing Director of staffingamericalatina. Martin Padulla is Sociologist (USAL), MBA (UCA) and labour markets expert. He published “Flexible Work in South America” and “Regulatory framework for private employment agencies in Latin America” two books about the new realities of work in Latin America.
mpadulla@staffingamericalatina.com
About staffingamericalatina
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