Stepping up work ambitions

Age no barrier for career drive

GETTING older does not have to mean stepping back from your career, with a new survey revealing more than half of 55 to 64-year-olds intend to start a new job before they retire.

Research from job site SEEK found 27% of workers in the age bracket planned to get a new job in the next year, while a further 20% intended to do so in the next four years, and 8% in five or more years.

About three in five 55 to 64-year-olds remain in full-time employment, a slightly lower proportion than the 67% in the total workforce.

More (41%) older workers are part time or casual than the 33% average for all workers as they transition into retirement, rather than jump into it.

Alison Monroe, national director of career transition company Sageco, says fewer people see a finishing line at the end of their career.

They are working for longer and many continue to earn in some capacity right through their so-called “retirement”.

Monroe says upskilling has become easier for workers as education is more accessible.

“If you want to acquire new skills you don’t have to enrol in a three-year diploma or attend a face-to-face class,” she says.

“We are seeing such an accelerated accessibility to short bite-sized learning, such as online courses or TED talks or e-learning modules.”

Randstad’s Workmonitor report reveals older workers are the most committed to upskilling to enhance their employability.

Ninety per cent of Australian workers aged 55 to 67 and 93% of those aged 45 to 54 believe in regularly refreshing their skills and competencies. This compares to 84% of workers aged 18 to 24.

Despite understanding the importance of upskilling, more than half of older workers (52% of those aged 55 to 67) feel they have not received adequate training or education to stay up to date in their careers.

Three-quarters say they need more job-related or vocational skills.

In the past 12 months, Australian workers across all age groups have endeavoured to upskill themselves through attending a workshop, seminar or conference (43.7%), studying or attending training (31.9%), completing an online course (28.9%), participating in a personal coaching session (8.9%) or consulting a specialist (4.2%).