Older workers are viewed as more seasoned, more stable, and hit the ground running

By Bill Marshall

One of the trends we’re seeing in the executive recruiting business is that more organizations are hiring older workers. While it is true that many older workers are getting the pink slip at some companies, there are other companies that are looking to put them back to work.

Especially organizations that have mission critical operations, and for whatever reason, they are experiencing a talent “gap”, and they need to hire the right person the first time, for many of these companies 50+ year-old workers are looking more and more attractive.

The 50+ year-old workers are viewed as more seasoned and more stable. They hit the ground running. They can make a greater contribution is a shorter period of time. Although they’re that much closer to retirement themselves, and the amount of time they’ll stay with the company is potentially shorter, it doesn’t seem to matter as much to hiring managers as to getting the right skills sets in place. After all, most employees move on to new jobs in less than five years anyhow.

The greatest misperception about hiring older workers was that health problems that sometimes accompany aging would cost too much in terms of increased absenteeism and higher health insurance. However, today’s 50+ crowd is much healthier compared to 10 or 20 years ago.

Also, there was the misperception that older job seekers are not as up to date on computer skills as younger job candidates. Yet many of the baby boomers have been in the workforce throughout the entire evolution of the computer. They have learned how to quickly adapt to the newest advances.

Bill Marshall is the Vice President of Executive Search for Dise & Company. You can contact Bill directly at the People Page on Diseco.com.