Recommendations in the ACS Report include: introducing a self
regulatory code of practice in this area for the ICT sector, and collaboration
between government, industry and the Human Rights Commission to create attitudinal
change amongst Australian employers.
The Improving Age Diversity in the ICT Workforce Report, released
by the ACS Ageism Task Force, outlines the significant underuse of older workers
(aged 45 years and over) in the Australian ICT workforce despite a protracted
period of skills shortages. The Report provides recommendations for governments,
employers and recruiters to address misconceptions around older workers and
to implement programs to draw on the wealth of ICT skills currently available
within this section of our workforce.
ACS CEO, Bruce Lakin said, “Ageism is a growing reality
in Australia - but so is an increasing awareness that workers 45 years and older
represent a resource and knowledge base we need to continue to reinvest in.
“While age discrimination can be difficult to prove, its
existence, increasing pervasiveness and negative impacts on mature workers and
the workplace in general is undeniable. Age discrimination creates unacceptable
levels of unemployment and underemployment amongst those over 45 years which
has economic, as well as social and psychological costs. With reported skill
shortages within the Australian ICT sector, the underemployment of older workers
is a problem which demands significant focus. I thank Brenda Aynsley, VP Membership
Boards, Chair of ACS Ageism Task Force and her team for their input to the Report,”
said Mr Lakin.
ACS President, Anthony Wong said the Government’s policy
to encourage workers to remain in the workforce beyond their traditional retirement
age, combined with the increasing demands on the technology sector, should provide
a powerful incentive to reverse this negative dynamic.
Perceptions of older workers in the ICT workforce outlined in
the ACS Report:
* being less healthy or more prone to disability;
* being underqualified or having obsolete skills;
* unable to learn new skills;
* being over qualified;
* unable to adapt to new or younger work cultures;
* looking towards retirement so not worth training;
* resistant to change; and
* less adaptive to new technologies.
Skills obsolescence, a common reason put forward within the technology sector
for discriminating against older workers, has two main factors:
* skills obsolescence due to technology changes; and
* skills obsolescence triggered by changes in job context[1]
Mr Wong said, “According to the Intergenerational Report 2010[2], Australia’s
mature age participation rate is below that of comparable countries such as
Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States. Across many first
world countries employment in the ICT sector is heavily skewed towards the 25
to 44 age group. In Australia the average age for an ICT worker is 39 as it
is in the EU and UK and in Germany the vast majority are under 44[3]. From the
ACS’s recent Employment Surveys, we have noticed those over 45 years tend
to make up the bulk of unemployed professionals”.
The ACS strongly supports calls from the Commissioner responsible
for Age Discrimination for reforms to help reduce ageism within the Australian
workforce, The ACS recommends the following actions for the Australian ICT sector:
ACS Ageism Task Force Report recommendations:
1. Government, industry, industry and professional associations
should partner to build a stronger Australian evidentiary base upon which to
go forward – extent of ageism, impacts on unemployment, the reasons why
it is happening, under-employment and hidden unemployment.
2. The Federal Government should specifically fund the Australian
Human Rights Commission to actively develop and coordinate a national strategy,
which includes the States and Territories, to address ageism across all Australian
States and Territories.
3. The development of a government policy and framework to acknowledge
and quantify the cost and other impacts of ageism, economic benefits to firms
from employing older workers and to educate employers and employment agents
on improving age diversity in the workforce.
4. The ICT profession, industry, employment agents and their
representative bodies should form a task force to address the issue of ageism
and develop practical solutions that can be adopted by employers and employment
agents to improve transparency in the recruitment process and ensure people
are assessed on the basis of their skills and capability.
5. The ICT profession, industry and employment agents in the
ICT sector develop a self regulatory code of practice and ethical statement
on addressing ageism and improving age diversity and transparency in recruitment
processes.
6. Government and industry should develop and fund an ongoing
education campaign to facilitate cultural and attitudinal change, address misconceptions
and stereotypes around age and promote the benefits of a diverse workforce that
captures the benefits of workers of all ages.
7. As part of its commitment to increasing the participation
rate of older workers, the Government should develop policy, regulatory and
taxation incentives for employers to provide ongoing professional development
and to retain and/or hire older workers. This could be done in consultation
with the proposed task force from recommendation 4.
Elizabeth Broderick, the Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination,
Australian Human Rights Commission said “Negative stereotypes often lie
at the heart of age discrimination. That’s why an important part of our
work is to help foster positive community attitudes towards young and older
Australians. In relation to older Australians, in particular, many recent reports
have emphasised the negative consequences of age discrimination on the wellbeing
of older Australians and the broader consequences for the community. The ACS
Age Diversity Report reveals age discrimination of older workers is occurring
within the Australian ICT workforce.
“There is also evidence that the ageing of Australia’s
population will lead to an increase in the problem of age discrimination if
Government action is not taken to address this issue. We call on ICT industry
leaders and the Federal Government to support the initiatives and recommendations
detailed by the ACS Age Diversity Report, to ensure all of Australia’s
highly skilled ICT workers are employed”, said Ms Broderick.
The ACS Age Diversity Report, Improving Age Diversity in the
ICT Workforce, can be located at: http://www.acs.org.au/agediversity
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