Employers forced to tap into unconventional talent market

Skills shortages are hitting businesses hard, with 90 per cent of Aussie businesses facing challenges and every sector affected.

Employers are now utilising an unconventional talent market to fill skills gaps in their organisation: retirees. According to research from Robert Half, 58 per cent of Australian organisations have hired a retiree in the past year.

“Considering candidates who are retirees is a great way to uncover talent for higher-level or specialised roles to help combat Australia’s talent deficit,” said Robert Half director Andrew Brushfield.

“Experienced workers bring a multitude of benefits to a business. They can share the knowledge and skills they’ve acquired throughout their career with current staff, they have a network of people across many areas, and they are often highly skilled and knowledgeable, which means they are able to offer a broad range of help to any business.”

This solution to talent shortages is reportedly growing in popularity, with 37 per cent of those who have not hired a retiree considering it.

Retirees shouldn’t be overlooked due to age, said Robert Half, as they’re still skilled workers with years of experience who can bring skills into vacant positions.

“A great candidate – regardless of their work history – should offer a mix of ‘science and art’ to their role. They should have the technical expertise to perform core job functions efficiently and effectively, and the ability to situate their skills within the wider organisational context, using power skills such as problem solving or stakeholder management,” explained Mr Brushfield.

“Alongside their tried-and-true technical capabilities, I often think a retired professional’s greatest value is their business acumen. They are able to draw on years of experience across shifting industry trends and economic climates to approach a problem with an educated response.”

Robert Half noted that the main reasons employers were hiring retirees were because they:

• Have specialised expertise (60 per cent)
• Can contribute quickly (57 per cent)
• Have strong business acumen and knowledge of key business issues (51 per cent)
• Can mentor less experienced colleagues (49 per cent)

Robert Half urges employers to consider giving this misunderstood group of candidates a chance, as they can bring a variety of benefits to a business, especially a struggling one.

The top four benefits retirees bring, as listed by Robert Half, are:

1. Commercial acumen

“Senior employees bring professional skills honed over a variety of industries, cultures, financial conditions and teams. A retired employee has navigated economic slowdowns and periods of great growth, staff conflicts and great collaboration, and everything that comes in between. This allows them to assess and respond to problems with an analytical, measured insight rather than leading with an emotional or instinctive perspective.”

2. Technical expertise

“Accumulated over a number of years, senior workers bring deep expertise in their craft. As well as being able to execute their tasks to a high level based on familiarity with the subject matter, retired employees can apply an understanding of what has worked – or failed – in the past to optimise processes and procedures. Whether returning to a familiar role or taking on a new remit, experienced employees are skilled at translating broad scopes of work into actionable priorities.”

3. Adaptability

“While some employers may fear that retired employees will be less responsive to digital transformation efforts than their ‘digital native’ counterparts, the reality is that older workers have embraced more technological and procedural advances than any other demographic in the workforce today. They are adept at layering new technical advances into their work, using this to complement the core business fundamentals that can only be developed over time.”

4. Diverse perspectives

“By being a dominant consumer group, the perspective of retired employees is a valuable asset when it comes to strategy, planning, and problem-solving processes. More broadly, and importantly, ensuring adequate representation and diversity within a team is an important part of doing good business and making sound commercial decisions.”