SA’s leading employment agency for the mature-aged jobless has almost double the number of active jobseekers registered with it than it had at the height of the global financial crisis.
Age discrimination and workplace flexibility were the issues of “major concern” raised by older workers.
COTA chief executive Jane Mussared said the average unemployed person aged over 55 was out of work for 72 weeks.
Those out of work or “underemployed” would find it harder to top up super and pay off their mortgage, she said.
Age discrimination was “alive and well” in businesses, Ms Mussared said.
“We’re not doing a good job overall of investing in an ongoing basis in older workers,” she said. “What employers are saying is ... they have not heard a compelling argument around (using) older workers.
“There’s no urgency for them ... they say they are getting the supply of workers they need.
“While we are starting to break through in gender diversity, it’s time to change the thinking around age diversity.”
DOME, a State Government-funded organisation that provides employment and training services for over-40s, has 2800 clients on its books looking for work, up from 1500 at the same time eight years ago during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
And many who find work are not getting enough hours to get by, so remain on the organisation’s books in the hope of securing more sustainable employment, executive director Greg Goudie said.
“We have done an analysis of our past year and of the people that found work through us, about 60 per cent of them only achieved about 10 or 15 hours a week and are still looking for more,” Mr Goudie said.
“People are getting work, if you can call it that, but there’s not enough fulltime or reasonable hours for people to get by on.
“Underemployment seems to be increasing ... with the current job market, the number of people (seeking help) has been increasing, it’s getting tougher.”
He said more people aged in the 40 to 50 age bracket were also seeking help, compared with seven years ago.
“Back during the GFC we had four people registered with us between the age of 40 and 45 and really now we’ve got a couple of hundred,” Mr Goudie said.
We are also seeing less of those in their 60s. The reason for that could be they’ve most likely stopped looking for work.
“One thing that really worries me is that, because of the sheer volume of people, we are not able to offer as many jobs, there are not enough around, and what we might be doing is creating more disappointment (for clients).”
He said age discrimination was still a major issue, with 80 per cent of clients who responded to a survey last year ranking it as a barrier to employment.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is undertaking an inquiry into age discrimination in the workforce, which is due to report by July.
In its submission to the inquiry, the Council on the Ageing warned that challenges facing mature-age workers in SA are “amplified” by the state’s economic climate, shortage of jobs and “a low prospect of future jobs growth”.
March 13, 2016 12:03am
RENATO CASTELLO Sunday Mail (SA)
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