Employment Ageism. Unfair Social Discrimination. Elder People Job
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Are Older Workers The Answer To Retail’s Staffing Problems?

Okay, Boomer. You’re hired. When can you start? 

A Wall Street Journal article today reports employers are turning to older individuals to fill jobs mainly because they find them more reliable and willing to work than younger people. 

A WSJ-NORC survey finds that people 65 and older are not only not afraid of hard work, 75 percent of them crave it. As a point of comparison, sixty-one percent of 18- to 29-year-olds say hard work is very important to them. 

The list of complaints about younger workers raised in the article is familiar. Some employers find that teens and young adults often turn up late for work, call out more frequently and spend work time on their social media feeds instead of tending to customers and other tasks. 

Kip Conforti, who owns two package-shipping stations in Pennsylvania, was highlighted in the Journal article for his decision to recruit older workers. He said it takes longer to train older workers but the extra time is worth it. “Once they get it, God, it’s refreshing. I say, ‘This is what we’re doing today,’ and it gets done. Their shift starts at nine and they’re here at 8:50. It’s their work ethic.”

The willingness of Mr. Conforti and others to employ older workers in jobs from the frontline to the C-suite is part of a trend that has shown ageism complaints filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission fall since 2011. 

The decline is partly attributed to an aging population with older members still making significant workplace contributions and a shortage of younger workers available or willing to take on specific jobs.

It would be a mistake to assume that ageism is no longer an issue in society or the workplace.

A study published last year in the JAMA Network found that 93.4 percent of individuals between 50 and 80 reported everyday ageism was prevalent. Individuals coping with ageism were found to have more negative health consequences than those who did not.

An ageism case from Canada made international headlines last year. Lisa LaFlamme, 58 at the time, did not have her contract as a news anchor renewed by CTV News. Her employer criticized Ms. LaFlamme after she decided against dying her hair blonde. Ms. LaFlamme worked at the network for 35 years.

Dove and Wendy’s in Canada launched social media campaigns against ageism due to Ms. LaFlamme’s case.

BrainTrust

"Hiring great people – regardless of age – is important for any business."

Mark Ryski

Founder, CEO & Author, HeadCount Corporation


"I hope the study is flawed in some way, because it’s frightening to see that 61 percent of 18 to 29 year olds are afraid of hard work."

David Spear

VP, Professional Services, Retail, NCR


"Complaints about younger workers and built-in ageism rob companies and societies of the talent needed to grow and innovate."

Mohamed Amer, PhD

Independent Board Member, Investor and Startup Advisor


Discussion Questions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Where do you come down on generational work ethics? Are the complaints about younger workers today substantively different than those levied against Baby Boomers when they were teenagers and young adults?

Poll

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Mark Ryski
Noble Member
11 months ago

Hiring great people – regardless of age – is important for any business. The wealth of experience and knowledge that older workers have may be one of the great untapped sources of labor that has not been fully explored by companies. The complaints about younger workers may be true for some, but it’s unfair to generalize this to all young workers. People are living longer and so the need to stay active and continue to earn income are important. The older I get, the more I like the idea of hiring older people. 😉

Craig Sundstrom
Craig Sundstrom
Noble Member
Reply to  Mark Ryski
11 months ago

Your closing remark calls to mind a comedy skit of Al Franken: “For years and years I’ve felt the draft was wrong, but now that I’m [one year older than the upper age limit for the draft] I see the wisdom in it.”

Lucille DeHart
Active Member
11 months ago

Yes. Yes. Yes. The value of older workers is underestimated, especially in a society that rewards and honors youth. The generational difference is real in that post-50 workers came up with a discipline of “work harder/get more.” The younger generation came up with self-worth and wanting to “change the world” rather than to contribute to society. The trophy for everyone, participation awards and no grading system have lowered the bar in the standard working world. Only the bar has not lowered, just the workers.

Bob Amster
Trusted Member
11 months ago

The majority of members of older generations not impaired by some ailment or physical disability offer a better investment in labor the most others, especially in light of the current retail labor shortage. The places where ageism may rear its ahead, and older workers may not be so effective, are in the retail segments directly targeted at teens to twenty-somethings. This demographic may not identify with, and actually shy away from, significantly older store associates. Segments where the age does not seem to matter are grocery (go look at Trader Joe’s labor profile), haute couture/luxury, home (furniture, hardware), and upscale department stores (they know the difference between poplin and worsted wool).

Dave Bruno
Active Member
11 months ago

The phrase “kids will be kids” is a time-tested truism, and today’s kids are no different than when I myself was a kid. Hard work was never something we craved, but it was almost always required by the jobs available to us, which were primarily retail and hospitality. So, we did what we had to do to get and keep a job, and if we didn’t we were fired. The kids I know today seem to be cut from similar cloth. And by the time they approach my age, I suspect they’ll also come to recognize the value of and satisfaction from a hard day’s work. I only hope more businesses are willing to recruit, retain and reward them when they age.

DeAnn Campbell
Active Member
11 months ago

Age is just a number, but still a leading source of hiring bias across almost all industries. It’s true that different generations have different work ethics, but I see an exciting trend toward meeting in the middle. Older workers who grew up going into an office every day are enjoying the benefits of working remotely. And younger workers are building better work habits by learning from older workers. It’s really just the HR teams that are the biggest bottleneck to overcoming the disconnect.

Mohamed Amer, PhD
Mohamed Amer, PhD
Active Member
11 months ago

Generalizations are mental shortcuts we use in making decisions. These provide the cognitive maps that inform our attitudes and behaviors. Awareness of our biases and shortcomings is a tremendous first step to making better decisions formed by the particulars of the situations and not the overly simple generalizations. Complaints about younger workers and built-in ageism rob companies and societies of the talent needed to grow and innovate. Older workers are more secure in who they are and are realistic about expectations and responsibilities–as a group. They represent an untapped resource for retailers.

David Spear
Active Member
11 months ago

I hope the study is flawed in some way, because it’s frightening to see that 61 percent of 18 to 29 year olds are afraid of hard work. I know many young people and this is not true. That said, I think it’s incredibly important to leverage older workers’ skills, experiences and work ethic. These individuals can and will make an indelible mark in any company, especially retail.

Shep Hyken
Active Member
11 months ago

There is a lot of research about generational work ethic. It’s easy to stereotype a generation, but the truth is that it is speaking in generalities. For example, many have complained about the Millennial generation’s work ethic. They don’t want to work as hard, they switch companies faster, they demand certain perks, etc. I’m not going to comment on whether that is true or not, but my experience (with clients) shows that it is more about hiring the right person at the right age. BOOM! That’s it – it’s that simple.

As for older workers versus younger, the work ethic can be the same, but there is a difference in willingness to stay in the same company. An older generation is used to making a career out of working for the same company. That is part of the employer-loyalty mindset. That said, as companies have become used to employees leaving, they seem to do less to create employee loyalty than they used to.

Rich Kizer
Member
11 months ago

When a staff member doesn’t HAVE to be there, but WANTS to be there, that’s going to be a good employee. Go seniors!

Patricia Vekich Waldron
Active Member
11 months ago

I dislike the generalizations of generations. It’s more about hiring individuals who are prepared to learn the job and be dedicated to doing it well. There are a lot of 50+ people who have skills and traits that make them great employees for retailers and for other industries.

Richard Hernandez
Active Member
Reply to  Patricia Vekich Waldron
11 months ago

This. Additionally, there are very loyal as well.

Patricia Vekich Waldron
Active Member
Reply to  Richard Hernandez
11 months ago

Loyalty is just one of the positive characteristics of the 50+ crowd!

Craig Sundstrom
Craig Sundstrom
Noble Member
11 months ago

So let me get this straight: we start off with a long list of complaints that stereotype younger workers, and then use that as a preface to complain about…ageism??
It’s true that each generation is in some way(s) different than the previous; so sometimes an observation may have an element of truth (Generation Z – whether we use that term figuratively or, now, literally – has worse handwriting) But this is all cherry-picking. The (disturbing IMHO) tendency in recent decades to place more restrictions against younger adults, while simultaneously demanding none at all against older ones is self-serving hypocrisy