Promoting age inclusivity in the workplace

As Ireland’s population ages, so too does our workforce. In celebration of Positive Ageing Week, Dee France examines our ageing workforce and how to promote age inclusivity in your organisation

Statistics from the CSO’s 2022 Census revealed that the Irish population is growing in size and age.

The proportion of the population aged 65 years or over has increased from 12 percent in 2012 to 15.1 percent in 2022. The census also showed an increase in Ireland’s population aged 45 or over and a decrease in those under 45.

With an ageing population, life expectancy and the average retirement age rising, people stay in the workforce longer than previous generations. Now more than ever, workplaces are multigenerational, and barriers and opportunities for all come with that.

Age diversity is often a topic that is overlooked in the ED&I space. Still, it is an equally crucial aspect, as it is common for older workers to face stereotyping in the workplace, mostly harmful and always unwarranted.

In this digital era, many age-related mistruths surround older workers, such as their capability to embrace digital transformation, reluctance to adopt new processes and ways of working, or difficulty shifting to changes in company culture.  

In Robert Walters’ 2022 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion report, the lack of progression opportunities for older workers becomes apparent.

There was a clear disparity between younger and older generations regarding career progression. Thirty-eight percent of Baby Boomers (aged 57–72) had been offered a promotion at their current company compared with 57 percent of Gen Z (aged 18–26).

According to the same survey, Baby Boomers’ main challenges when looking to progress their careers are a lack of opportunities, training and development, and resources or time to go above and beyond.

Benefits of age diversity

The importance and value of older employees in their workplace are seriously overlooked, and there are many business benefits to having a multigenerational workforce.

Some potential benefits of age diversity in the workplace could:

• improve engagement, retention and motivation;
• enhance and diversify skill sets; 
• widen talent pool for recruitment; 
• improve companies’ reputation and brand by creating an inclusive business; and 
• provide meaningful and symbiotic mentorship opportunities.

An ageing workforce isn’t a burden; it is an opportunity. With age comes a wealth of experience, and with skill and labour shortages currently in play, employers should not overlook older employees but focus instead on actively retaining and retraining.

Promoting age inclusivity

Embracing age inclusivity is not just a social matter; it is a business matter, too.

As Ireland’s demographics evolve, businesses must adapt and embrace the potential an age-diverse workforce unlocks.

Here are some methods that can help promote age inclusivity in the workplace:

• Implement an age-inclusive hiring process by framing and wording job adverts to eliminate bias;
• Develop programmes and initiatives explicitly aimed at attracting and retaining older workers, such as return to workforce programmes and phased retirement options;
• Invest in training and development to promote and encourage continuous professional development to ensure employees’ skills match the company’s evolving requirements and older workers don’t miss out on progression opportunities;
• Provide health and wellbeing support with a positive focus on issues about older cohorts, such as access to health services, menopause awareness and training, financial well-being and pension planning; and
• Improve flexible work arrangements, as changes in working arrangements can act as an effective retention policy.

Dee France is the Wellbeing Lead at the Institute’s dedicated wellbeing hub, Thrive.