Dealing with greying workers

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Friday , September 28, 2007 at 2309 hrs With the average Indian now just 24 years old, and with over half the population under 25, industrialists and policymakers talk about India’s demographic dividend. But along with this rosy picture, is another reality—older workers and their concerns that tend to get swept under the carpet.

While companies, especially multinationals, proclaim themselves to be ‘equal opportunity employers’ welcoming ‘diversity in the workplace’, it is not actually happening in the Indian workplace. With all the focus on attracting the young workers and keeping them happy, older workers are, definitely, not turning out to be the first choice for employers. For MNCs that are unable to find enough workers in their own countries due to an aging and more expensive workforce, India provides a hunting ground for younger recruits.

Explains NS Rajan, partner, human capital Ernst & Young, “There are companies that do not discriminate on the basis of age. Ability to perform is the sole criterion, but at the same time, younger workers are perceived to be more enthusiastic, innovative and ready to push themselves to the edge.”

An HSBC study in 2006 entitled, ‘The Future of Retirement: What the World Wants’ corroborates this. While Indian employers recognise and value the benefits of retaining older workers, they do not do as much as many of their international counterparts do to recruit workers over the age of 50. They are also the most likely to encourage their workers to take full early retirement. According to the survey, while Indian employers say that government regulations prevent them from doing more to attract and retain older workers, they are also in favour of being allowed to enforce a mandatory retirement age.

However, all the blame cannot be laid at the door of the employers. People change as they get older, and these changes create fundamental shifts in workforce capabilities. Few people over 45 can or will want to perform the jobs they had when they were 20. “In a professional lifecycle, the worker’s needs and demands vary and change. As employees move past and transit from single hood to family and child-rearing stages, they begin to look at life differently and their priorities change. Work-life balance becomes more critical to the older worker,” says Manpower India executive director Tarun Bali.