India Inc's too young to retain its older workforce

NEW DELHI: While Indian employers are on par with their global brethren in implementing a recruitment strategy for workers above the age of 50, they fare poorly when it comes to retention strategies for the elderly.

According to a global survey by HR consultancy firm Manpower, 14% of India’s employers —also the global average —recruit older workers. However, Indian employers do not match the global average in retaining older people. Globally, 21% of the employers indicated they have a retention strategy for older people as against 16% in India.

According to Manpower India executive chairman Soumen Basu: “This shows Indian employers are not doing enough to tap into the older workers’ talent pool. A lot needs to be done to bring in the experience and skill set of the older lot. They can be retained as consultants or as trainers to meet the talent gap in the labour market.” He added employers should also evaluate bringing in retired employees back through a flexible work environment.

Based on the responses from 4,742 employers across seven sectors in India, public administration & education topped the sectoral chart for recruiting and retaining older people. One fifth of the employers in the public administration and education sector indicated they have an older worker recruitment strategy.

Wholesale and retail trade figured at the bottom of the chart for the same. The survey indicates that employers in the North and East regions are relatively more active in devising a retention strategy for old people. The North also scores when it comes to recruiting older workers in contrast to employers from the South.

The global survey found employers in Japan and Singapore far ahead of their international counterparts when it comes to proactively retaining older employees. Conversely, in Italy and in Spain, fewer employers have retention strategies in place.

In 19 of the 25 countries where employers were surveyed, retention strategies were more prevalent than recruitment strategies for older workers. This could be due to the respective government’s role in legislations and programmes which encourage employers to retain older workers.