AARP and Monster Hold Business Leaders' Forum
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2006-11-01 09:58:34.248663-05:00
Hiring older workers is good business. That was the message delivered by AARP and Monster at a business leaders’ forum in mid-September at the Boston Harbor Hotel. The forum, presented in conjunction with Operation A.B.L.E. of Greater Boston, attracted more than 150 Boston-area business, policy and opinion leaders.
WBZ New England Business Editor Anthony Silva moderated the session which focused on the AARP report, prepared by Towers Perrin, The Business Case for Workers Age 50+: Planning for Tomorrow’s Talent Needs in Today’s Competitive Environment.
Featured speakers included:
- Bill Novelli, CEO, AARP
- Roselyn Feinsod, principal, Towers Perrin
- And senior-level executives from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Massachusetts General Hospital, both of which were named 2006 AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50.
Call to Action
The morning started with a wake up call from Deborah Banda, AARP Massachusetts state director. “In a few years, mature workers will be a critical part of the workforce and to stay competitive, businesses must start planning now.”
Calling attention to the aging workforce and the smaller pool of younger, replacement workers, Banda warned that Massachusetts businesses are ill-prepared for the Boomer retirement exodus. A new AARP survey, Preparing for an Aging Workforce: A Focus on Massachusetts Employers, finds that only half of employers in the Greater Boston area believe workforce shortages loom on the horizon.
“The results caused us concern, and that’s why we have convened business leaders to discuss how to make the business case for 50+ workers,” Banda said. “We are especially pleased to include M.I.T. and Mass. General in this discussion. Both have demonstrated significant commitment to the aging workforce and are way ahead of the curve in putting dynamic workforce policies and practices into place.”
Hiring Older Workers is Good Business
“What has been missing until now is a strong business case for retaining and recruiting older workers and an urgent need to do so,” said Bill Novelli, AARP CEO. “We set out to correct that by sponsoring an extensive study prepared by the global professional services of Towers Perrin.”
The report challenges myths about workers 50 and older and shows that those employees often have productive advantages that make them far more cost-effective than is generally believed.
“These findings are especially important because the workforce is aging, labor shortages are projected in a number of sectors, and many employees intend to continue to work beyond the retirement age,” Novelli said. “Keeping people in the workforce longer benefits the employee, the employer and society as a whole.”
Roselyn Feinsod from Towers Perrin added, “The report concludes that enhancing retention or hiring of older workers can result in marginal differences in total cost for the talent pools studied, while experienced people can offer a distinct performance advantage in many key roles.”
Companies Turn to Older Workers to Get the Job Done Right
The health care industry is likely to be first and hardest hit by the aging workforce. Mass. General Hospital is already facing some of the labor shortages that are predicted in other parts of the health care sector.
“We recognize the value of hiring and retaining 50-plus employees,” said Jeff Davis, senior vice president for human resources at Mass. General. “The worst-case scenario would be for all of our 50-plus employees to retire, and we wouldn’t have any younger workers to replace them. The answer for us is to keep 50-plus employees productive in the workforce as long as we can.”
preview