John Archer
In the shifts of Canada's labour market lies an overwhelming trend: Older workers are landing jobs at a furious rate.
It wasn't the case only in September, which saw 37,000 more jobs for older workers in a month where overall jobs declined. It has been a solid year of job growth for the 55-plus crowd, making this demographic by far the biggest gainer in the work force.
Several factors explain the increase, including a preference among employers for experience and the fact that more older people are actively looking for work than in decades past.
Another key reason may be tied to wages: Older workers have become more willing to take a pay cut, making their cost more comparable to someone with less experience.
"Experienced workers are a valuable resource but they also are settling for lower wages," said Jim Geraghty, president of Happen, a Canadian network for unemployed mid-level to senior managers and executives. "People today need to be more flexible and disregard the old salary expectations."
With stiff competition for fewer positions, he is seeing some clients take a pay cut of as much as 30 per cent, while others are opting for shorter-term contracts.
Ron Eberle, 56, landed a management position last spring. The vice-president of business development at RG Properties in Victoria had searched for half a year and was concerned employers would favour younger people "with more get up and go." He took a pay cut, common among his peers, but says networking and his experience helped land him the position.
"I'm more seasoned, and can be a mentor to younger staff members … and I really didn't need to be trained," he said.
Job growth has soared 7.7 per cent in the past year among men aged 55 and older and 5.9 per cent among women over 55. By contrast, job creation has been flat among middle-aged women and youth and grown 2.3 per cent for men aged 25 to 54, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday.
Both demand, or numbers of workers, and supply, or available jobs, seem to be rising in the older worker category. More people are staying in the work force longer due to both financial need and choice. Meantime, many employers are opting for experience over age.
"If you're an employer, there are lots of to hire an older workers: they have some kind of job experience, they've got institutional memory," said Peter Drake, vice-president of retirement and economic research at Fidelity Investments Canada. "There's a general view that older workers tend to have lower absenteeism and maybe stick with the job longer."
Details provided by Statscan show older workers are landing jobs in the services side of the economy: the scientific and technical sector, along with trade and health care and social assistance.
Employers don't typically target specific age groups in their hiring process, or at least admit they do. But they will say what they like about the 55-and-over group.
"It is the experience that makes them attractive," said Michelle Lee, manager of national talent acquisition at the professional services firm BDO Canada LLP, who says most hires in that age range are either seasonal workers during tax season or partners.
Mr. Drake, 67, retired after four decades as an economist before rejoining the labour market because he says he prefers to work. He's not surprised by the growth in older workers, which he says is rooted in demographics – low birth rates and an aging work force.
For now, companies are trying to keep costs down, and may prefer an experienced worker partly because they can "be productive off the top and not have to spend money on them for training."
Canadians had better get used to the greying of the work force, Mr. Drake said. "This is not going to be a short-term phenomenon."
With files from reporter Carys Mills