Here are some headline facts to take into account around Baby Boomers (born between 1946 & 1964) and the Australian workforce.
- Boomers make up 35% of the Australian Working Population
- 50% of Boomers don’t expect to retire until they are 66 or older
- One in Ten predict they will never retire
There is a strange contradiction in today’s market. People yearn for more experience and career growth, but when they have the opportunity to employ someone with more experience than themselves, they become a little sensitive. In our experience, employers are often opting for candidates who are in the “high growth” phase of their career.
There are natural benefits to taking on a highly motivated, proactive and career driven “growth” candidate for short-term assignments. However, we should also examine the Boomer who is immediately available and has the essential qualities, experience, reliability and a strong work ethic.
There are a number of highly skilled Boomers that are in between jobs in their career for many reasons: life experience, travel or the R-word (redundancy) has resulted in a break from work. At senior levels, the average permanent job search for Boomers is between 6 – 12 months, resulting in an opportunity to explore the Boomer as a more reliable talent to employ while they explore the right permanent career choice. Equally, this time frame leads to a supply and demand challenge, with more Boomers in the market than jobs that are “right” for them, many are willing to comfortably take a reduction in pay and exchange the same amount of dedication to producing results in their role.
For employers, the benefits of hiring Baby Boomers are numerous and include:
- Remuneration expectations are extremely flexible, particularly for interim hiring.
- Real work experience and at times additional skills, not just theory.
- Reliability (with a work ethic in line with the baby boomer era they finish what they have started)
- Hands on and flexible in approach.
The Baby Boomer market can have their reputation tarnished by those that have lacked adaptability by being “stuck” in their ways or bringing negative energy after life challenges like a redundancy. However, this stereotype is not a true reflection of the majority. They have quickly become an underutilised resource.
Having 15 years in the game, I’ve never heard a client who doesn’t need a candidate to work autonomously and bring experience to the table. The key is to understand the motivations behind the candidate, use a trusted recruiter who truly understands the Boomer’s working reputation and focus on solving the problems you are trying to overcome. In many cases, these problems can be solved more efficiently by an experienced interim solution who is committed to meeting the plans of your business in the short term. You can easily de-risk most of your interim hiring with an experienced solution such as a Baby Boomer.
Do you want to explore the untapped gold in the interim market?
Talk to us and arrange a consultation with our contracting and interim team.
What do you think?
We would love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to comment on our LinkedIn or Twitter or register to receive it monthly via email.
