Key Highlights
Why Should I Hire Older Workers and Retirees?
More seniors and retirees are returning to the workforce due to higher inflation. Whether you’re looking for jobs for retirees or business ideas for older workers, we’re here to help. Here’s 5 things that small business owners should consider when hiring older workers:
- Offer Flexibility: When looking to hire older workers, consider offering the same flexibility you’d offer other workers. Just because someone is retired doesn’t mean they have unlimited free time.
- Upskilling and Training: Be sure to budget for training to upskill workers who are returning to the workforce. Technology changes quickly so it’s important to spend the time and money training an employee who has been out of the workforce for a few years.
- Health Benefits and Ergonomics: Consider improving ergonomics and safety training for your older workers. Also, consider reviewing your health benefits to ensure they cover the medical needs of older workers. When employees are comfortable and safe at work, they will be able to focus better on the job at hand.
- Prevent Age Discrimination: Revisit all your discrimination policies to confirm they’re adhering to both from the EEOC and the DOL. You can also consult a labor attorney to confirm you’re adhering to state and federal laws. When interviewing older employees or retirees who are returning to the workforce, avoid any remarks or questions that could be taken as discriminatory towards someone’s age.
- Older Employees Bring Experience: The most valuable asset that older workers bring to the table is experience. Your younger workers can use their experiences and wisdom and apply it to their own career. Your older workers can help mentor younger employees.
Transcript
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Gene (00:00):
Hey everybody, it’s Gene Marks, and welcome to this week’s episode of the Hartford Small Biz Ahead Podcast. Thank you so much for joining me this week. I’ve got a personal thing I need to share with you in just a few weeks. I will literally be 59 and a half years old, and do you know what 59 and a half years old means? It means that I can actually start withdrawing from my retirement accounts without paying any penalties. I never thought that day would come. I always thought when I was putting money away into our retirement accounts it’d be withdrawn when I’m just an old man. And now I’m officially an old man. Which brings me to the topic for today’s podcast. It’s about retirees. There was a big article on foxbusiness.com.
Gene (00:44):
They were reporting on a new survey published by the Motley Fool, which found that a growing number of retired Americans are considering or are returning to work as they continue to battle chronic inflation. About 44% of the respondents in this survey said they’re thinking about looking for work because the social security benefits have not adequately kept pace with inflation. While Social security receives 3.2% cost of living adjustments in 2024, retirees said they’re still struggling financially, and they’re barely just keeping up with inflation, which is driving a lot of them back to the workforce. Which brings me to the topic at hand, which is hiring older people. If retirees are heading back to the workforce, they’re, listen, most of us as business owners, we’re looking for people, and we’re certainly looking for people that have got good experience and the right work attitude and all of that rolled into one.
Gene (01:41):
We always read these reports about the Gen Zers not wanting to work the same kind of hours or wanting more PTO or whatever the case may be. And the older people, the boomers they’re the ones that are into working harder, longer hours. They know what a dollar’s worth and a good day’s worth is worth. Well, you can agree with that or not agree with that, but you might want to be thinking about hiring an older worker for your business or two. And there are considerations that you should be making if you are looking to hire an older worker. I’ve got five things that you really should be keeping in mind or considering when you’re, when you’re hiring those older workers. So, what do you say? Let’s talk about some of them. Okay. Number one, just because somebody’s older doesn’t mean they don’t want flexibility.
Gene (02:27):
Across all generations in US businesses, people want more flexibility. Now, they want to be able to work from home. They want to be able to have remote working. They want to be able to pick and choose when they take their vacation. They want to have the flexibility of using vacation days or sick days or whatever for whatever purposes that they need. So, when you look at a higher older people, you really want to give the same considerations to your vacation and work from home and remote working programs as you’re giving for everybody else. There’s no difference between somebody who’s 65 or 25 when it comes to flexibility on the job. Now, a lot of older workers, they have different needs for their time. Maybe they’re spending more time with a sick spouse or with grandchildren or whatnot.
Gene (03:09):
So, they need the work and they need to be able to be flexible in work, and that is what you and I need to make sure that we are taking into consideration. Just because somebody’s retired doesn’t mean they have all the time in the world to devote to our business. They’ve got other things going on in their lives too. Number one is flexibility, very important for the older generations. Number two, your older worker may need more training, so you want to be budgeting for that. Technology in particular has changed a lot. We are seeing a lot new changes in our software systems. A lot new changes coming up with AI as well, as well as just operating machines today or take a different level of expertise. So, if you are hiring an older worker, even if it’s on the production floor, or to provide services or to be doing something in the back of office just remember that if they’ve been out of the workforce for a few years, they’re gonna need to be upskilled again on the latest technologies that you have, the latest systems, your processes, the machinery equipment that you’re using.
Gene (04:05):
So, make sure that you’re budgeting for training. Number three, as evidenced by my back, my knee, my big toe, older workers, we just have more aches and pains, just the bottom line. So whether an older worker is sitting at a desk all day or walking around the office or doing work on the production floor, you have to be also very cognizant of their safety and their ergonomics. You want to make sure that these older workers are being looked after, that you’re in, obviously in compliance with all safety rules, but also you have to take into consideration things that an older body might need. Maybe it’s knee pads, maybe it’s a back brace, maybe it’s a special ergonomic chair that they send in their office. There might be a little bit of an additional cost for you to supply that kind of equipment for your older worker, but if it keeps them productive and happy and obviously in less pain, that’s something that you do want to consider.
Gene (04:56):
So older workers are that are that way. And by the way, along that same bend is also your health insurance too. You wanna make sure that your, your health insurance coverages are covering the things that older workers could have. And just be a, be aware that if you do hire older workers, older people tend to have more health issues, and that could have an impact on your healthcare premiums going forward. I’m not saying that’s a red line that you shouldn’t hire somebody that’s of a certain age, but it could have an impact on your healthcare costs going forward. So we’ve talked about making sure you have flexibility. We’ve talked about offering more training to the older workers to get them more up to speed, safety ergonomics, health insurance.
Gene (05:38):
That’s the third thing. The fourth thing is discrimination, particularly age discrimination. I strongly recommend that you revisit all of your age discrimination policies that you need to make sure you’re adhering to both from the EEOC and the DOL. You want to make sure that when you’re interviewing older workers, you are not doing or saying anything that could be taken into account that it’s discriminatory. And when you have an older worker employed that you are not engaging in any discriminatory practices, precluding them from doing other work that other people might be doing because they’re of a certain age, it could be considered to be discriminatory. So, you’ve got older workers, particularly those over the age of 60. Take my advice, talk to a labor attorney and revisit your discrimination policies and make sure that you are in compliance not getting into any trouble.
Gene (06:28):
Finally, and intangibly, one of the greatest things that older workers do bring to a business is the fact that they have been around for a longer time. They bring experience. Yeah, I’m 59 and a half years old, and I will tell you I am a lot smarter than I was when I was 29 and a half years old, certainly when I was 19 and a half years old. I’m not saying I’m the smartest guy in the room by far, but there, when you knocked around on the planet from almost 60 years, you do learn some things, not just about the job, but about people. And in life in general, I would leverage those older workers, particularly if they are open to it, to become and, and serve as mentors to younger employees, particularly in the limited amount of time that those employees are spending in the office.
Gene (07:08):
With all that work from home stuff going on, it’s really important for younger people to hear the advice and take advantage of the experience of their older colleagues. And I think you should be open to that and try and do anything you can to facilitate, meetings, events, after school stuff, going out to the, grabbing a beer together, whatever the case may be, where you can bring both your older workers and your younger workers together. I’m telling you, younger workers will definitely benefit from their experience and their wisdom. Your older workers will benefit from their age and enthusiasm of the younger workers too. So it could be a two-way street. So let me sum up, first of all, just to make sure you understand why I’m talking about this. A new poll from Motley Fool is showing a lot of older workers either thinking or returning back to the workforce.
Gene (07:52):
So make sure you’re offering flexible, retire flexible vacation plans for them. Make sure that you are prepared to offer more training to bring them up to speed. Make sure that your, your plant and your office is compliant with all safety regulations that you are providing any ergonomic aids, whether it’s to a back or a chair or whatnot, and that your health insurance has got benefits that are in tune with the needs of older employees. You wanna revisit your age discrimination policies to make sure you’re not making any mistakes when hiring or when working with those workers. And finally, when the time is right, and if the person is right, take advantage of your older workers and use them as mentors where you can give them the exposure to your younger employees. They will benefit from that and your company, and you will benefit from that in the long run. You’ve been listening to Gene Marks, and this is The Hartford’s Small Biz Ahead Podcast. If you need any advice or tips or help in running your business, please join us at smallbizahead.com. You can get all sorts of blogs and written materials, videos, and even back episodes of this great podcast. Thank you so much for listening. We will see you again next week with another tip to help you run your business. Take care.
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