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Are Older Workers The Answer To Retail’s Staffing Problems?

Written by George Anderson
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.

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