By Kim LaFevor
Introduction
Got jobs? Of course you do. With the sunset of 2018, a startling problem in the U.S. employment landscape began to more clearly and fully emerge: There are serious shortages in the US labor supply, yet there remain untapped pools of labor sources. As HR practitioners, we have placed a great deal of attention and resources towards being an employer of choice for Millennial employees (born 1980-1994). Their positive impact has been stalwart and influential, although it can be argued the best is yet to come from this powerful segment of workers who represent about one-third of today’s workforce and they continue to rise into mid, senior level and C-Suite positions and effectively contributing to operational and strategic navigation. We have also taken calculated steps to do the same with Generation Z (born 1995-2010) now entering the workplace and uniquely differentiated from the preceding Millennial generation. However, such coordinated focus with these targeted sources of talent has had unintended outcomes. It has redirected our attention away from a key talent pool that provides a solution to pivot and reset our staffing paradigm in a more comprehensive way— Older Workers.
While the “underutilized pool of potential talent” spans across several populations of viable and job ready workers, the cornerstone of this article emphasizes the growing tsunami of talented older workers who can offer an immediate solution and can substantively move the pendulum forward in responding to workforce needs of U.S. companies, both in skilled and non-skilled areas. If this is the case, and appears almost too good to be true, this poses an obvious question. Why is this segment of older workers not more actively pursued to fill job vacancies that many argue are impossible to fill?
Describing the Current Labor Shortage: Older Workers Offer a Pragmatic Solution
Although the past two decades brought higher levels of job seekers than job openings, a reversing trend over the past year has yielded more job vacancies than job seekers. In March 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor reported 6.5 million workers sought to fill 7.6 million job openings reflecting a bulging delta between supply and demand of labor needed. To elevate concerns, according to the research and projections, this swing is expected to worsen (Campbell, 2019).
With this labor deficit on all fronts, employers must find new and expanded networks and sources of workers. Among potential pipelines are the growing group of older workers who have given up on finding employment following downsizing in recent recessionary years (2001, 2008-2009), and thereby not reflected among the reported unemployment numbers of job seekers, and older workers who are actively seeking employment yet face societal barriers that prevent them from entering the job market that so desperately needs them.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Older workers 55 to 75 are the largest and fastest growing group of worker prospects and job seekers in the U.S., both as white and blue collar job candidates. Economists project that the number of individuals over age 65 will more than double by 2050. This projection, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is expected to be in stark contrast to other age groups in the workforce that will remain generally unchanged through 2024 (Tossi & Torpey, 2017). The data suggests that a viable and readily available talent pool of older workers offer a significant solution to current workplace shortages. So, why are HR planning strategic and tactical plans not aimed, at least in part, with the recruitment and selection of this talent segment?
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Is there Unintentional, Uninformed Biases and Regulatory Overstretch towards Older Workers?
In this progressive era of equal employment opportunity, one would surmise that assumptions and biases have been mitigated through regulatory oversight. For older workers, protections can be found within Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) which contains provisions for fair and equitable treatment in employment of older workers. However, enforcement has produced mixed messages. A recent 2019 7th Circuit Court decision with Kleber v. CareFusion Corp. (17-1206) held that the ADEA related disparate impact age discrimination does not extend to outside job applicants. This ruling raises more questions than it answers about regulatory guidance to employers and discerning legal avenues for older workers.
The intent of legislative provisions sought to neutralize stereotypes and biases influencing decisions in the employment process to include unfair discrimination in selection, performance appraisals, pay raises, promotions, and training opportunities for older workers. Misplaced negative views of older workers have been debunked by a growing body of research that suggests otherwise (Stone & Tetrick, 2013). This solidifies the premise that barriers do exist for this population of older workers who offer unmatched experience, motivation towards organizational engagement, and significant ability to contribute to the workplace in ways that can produce meaningful organizational results and outcomes.
Thoughtful and Intentional Employment of Older Workers: HR Professionals have the Answer
HR professionals who influence the recruitment and staffing functions have an opportunity to look at the sources and methods in recruiting from the existing pool of older workers that are ‘job ready’ and viable labor source with strategic advantages. As workforce labor shortages increase over the next two decades, organizations will need to grapple with effective strategies to recruit, retain and reengage the older workforce if they are to meet their staffing needs. Older worker prospects tend to fall primarily into one of following five categories:
- Those who are presently in the labor force and wish to retire to pursue a second career, but fear leaving the job will result in an inability to reenter the workforce with present lack of focus and interest on older workers as job prospects
- Those unable to find reemployment following downsizing in recent recessionary years and have aborted any future job search
- Those that have been unable to save adequately for retirement and are actively seeking employment to supplement federally provided assistance, such as Social Security and Medicare which falls short in keeping up with the cost of living
- Those who live in rural and unincorporated regions of the country where unemployment remains high
- Those who are actively looking for a position but are met with biases centered on assumptions of older workers being “overqualified” or “incapable” of performing effectively the essential job functions of a position
As HR professionals, we can shape an intentional organization response to tap into this business opportunity with three approaches:
- Expand our recruitment strategies to include this rich pool of older workers
- Ensure mechanisms are in place to eliminate age-related biases in the selection process, and
- Institute and employ workplace policies that are appealing to attract and retain older workers
Furthermore, we can also consider three primary policies that can prove attractive to aging worker prospects:
- Provide support for employee caregivers as older workers tend to have responsibility for caring for even older parents
- Providing flexible workplace policies that allow for flexible scheduling, telecommuting, phased retirement, wellness programs, family leave and paid sick leave
- Providing training and education to keep technology skills honed and to remain current with best practices in the respective industry (Whitman, 2014)
The labor shortage problem is clear, but one solution lies in the renewed focus on employing older workers. With these aforementioned approaches, organizations have the opportunity to utilize older workers to solve not only their labor shortage, but enable this group to make important contributions to productivity and high impact deliverables in the workplace.
