Age at work

As it becomes more common for people to work past retirement age, we need to understand how to support our older workers to stay safe and healthy at work.

Older workers in New Zealand

Population ageing is a global phenomena. People are living longer due to better health and better healthcare, but fertility rates are reducing. This means we have an ageing population with potential skill gaps, as there are fewer younger people to replace older workers as they retire.

As our current cohort of baby boomers age and retire there will be a skills gap and labour shortages. It is essential that we understand this and think about ways of supporting our older workers to stay safe and healthy at work.

Defining the "older worker"

While ageing impacts us physically and mentally there is still discussion about the exact definition of an "older worker". Some research studies have looked at people aged 45 and over, and others have looked at people aged 50 and over. Though we know some physiological and psychological changes start in our later 40s, ageing is an individual process.

According to the NZ Institute of Economic Research (2021), there are 194,700 older people in our workforce, and this is projected to double (increase to 392,400) by 2071, as people stay in work for longer. Currently, a quarter of all people aged over 65 are still working and by 2038 the number is projected to grow to 1.34 million (Retirement Commission, 2019).

Why workers are staying in work past retirement age

There are several reasons why people continue to work past retirement age including:

• good health and safety conditions
• flexible work arrangements, including part-time work
• a superannuation scheme that enables people to continue working.

In fact, today’s older New Zealanders are healthier than past generations and they have high expectations of being in the best possible health well into their older age. They are much more active and positive about approaching their later years, and increasing numbers are continuing to work to maintain their active lifestyles.

Other motives for extending working lives include:

• enjoying work
• enjoying the social interactions of work
• maintaining family finances
• having good work-life balance and having a purpose in life.

Feedback

To find out more about the Wellbeing at Work initiative, or to give us your feedback on the early material, contact Professor Joanne Crawford.

References

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