Let’s Bust Some Myths About “Older” Workers

And yes, I have personally heard a version of these on more than one occasion:

Myth #1        Older workers won’t sick around

Fact:             In fact, today older people tend to be more loyal and stick around longer.  The younger generations will continue to move around many times as they work to acquire new skills and find their path.  Research suggests that workers over 50 years old are 5 times less likely to change jobs compared to people 20-24. An older employee won’t jump ship soon after being hired, saving their employer time and money.

Myth #2        Older workers are less productive and energetic

Fact              This may have been true many years ago when work was physically more demanding.  Today, that is just not the case and older workers are as productive as any age group and often physically more resilient than their younger counterparts

Myth #3        Older workers call in sick a lot

Fact              Older workers don’t often miss work due to illness.  It’s just not in our work DNA and older workers tend to call in sick less often than younger workers. Generally, it’s reported that older workers are half as likely to take a sick day compared to younger workers. A survey from 2014 showed that only a quarter of workers over 50 years old took time off due to illness that year - almost half of those age 20-30 took sick time off.

Myth #4        Older workers expect high salaries and are over-qualified

Fact              Most over 50’ers are happy and willing to go back to a position they had a few years ago.  They’ve reached a point in life where they are working for different reasons requiring different financial returns.  They are not overqualified but rather perfectly qualified

Myth #5        Older workers are not up to date on technology

Fact              Older individuals are one of the largest groups of tech users.  Studies show that older workers are just as tech-savvy as younger workers. Technology employees over 55 are less stressed about using technology in the workplace and better at using multiple devices, according to a recent Dropbox survey.

Myth #6        Older workers are unable to change

Fact              Well, this one is clearly completely incorrect!  When the Boomers of the world began their careers there was no internet, no computers, no cell phones, no social media and yet ….here we are….

Myth #7        Older workers have trouble learning new things

Fact:             Older workers retain information longer and have higher training rates than younger workers.  And they also have higher motivation and good attention spans. Older workers are eager to learn new tools for today’s economic needs. Their level of experience gives them an extra edge because it’s easier to build off the foundation of an understanding than to start new in training programs and learning opportunities.

Myth #8        Older workers are not quality oriented and have difficulty solving problems, evaluating information and making decisions

Fact              Really?!?  Older individuals tend to have well honed interpersonal skills and decades of practice solving problems and often better equipped to deal with co-workers and customers.  Older workers use their wealth of experience to create effective problem-solving strategies. They tend to be more capable, make better decisions, and take fewer uncalculated risks. 

Myth #9        Older workers work slower

Fact   There might be a bit of truth with this but most business leaders would agree that taking a bit more time and doing something once, is more efficient than doing something quickly but having to repeat the exercise multiple times involving multiple people