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Handbook on Employing Older Workers Launched

Chambers Ireland today (25/09/05) launched a best practice handbook on the employment of older workers at the inaugural meeting of its Human Resources Policy Council. 

According to recent CSO population projections, over the next twenty years, the number of people in Ireland aged 65 years and over will increase by more than 70%.  Currently, there is one pensioner for every five people working.  By 2025, this will have fallen to one for every three.

Launching the handbook, Chair of Chambers Ireland’s HR Policy Council Ann Byrne said, “this demographic shift presents a major challenge for the Irish labour market.  Unless immediate action is taken, and older people are encouraged to stay in the workforce for longer, we could be faced with a labour supply and pensions’ crisis of the kind currently being experienced by other EU states.”

“Businesses are already witnessing the effects of these demographic changes and more companies are looking for ways to retain their current older members of staff while many are actively seeking to recruit older workers,” she continued.

The aim of the handbook, is to provide practical advice for employers who either currently employ or are seeking to recruit older workers covering such areas as barriers to participation, responding to the needs of older workers, a guide to age equality legislation, recruitment, selection, training and development. 

Chambers Ireland’s HR Policy Council has been established to drive Chambers Ireland’s research and policy on HR issues from the employers’ point of view.  Its membership comprises specialists in the area of HR management from small, medium and large enterprises including:

• Ann Byrne, Personnel Consultant, Peninsula Business Services
• Sheena Caslin, HR & Training Consultant, Bank of Ireland
• Andrew Clarke, Partners at Law, President of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Chamber of Commerce
• Marion Courtney, HR & Office Manager, Chambers of Commerce of Ireland
• Majella D'Arcy, Human Resources Operation Manager, Superquinn Support Centre
• John Forde, Human Resource Manager, Celtic Linen Ltd
• Jennifer Lee, Group Human Resource Manager, Jury’s Doyle Hotel Group plc
• Orla Thornton, Executive Director, Mullingar Chamber of Commerce
• Vincent Turley, President of  Monaghan Chamber of Commerce, HR Services Company
• Tim Waterhouse, European Head of HR & Training, Bayer Diagnostics Europe Ltd

This handbook was produced by the ARROW Skillnet network (Assisting the Recruitment & Retention of Older Workers).  The aim of the ARROW programme is to break down the perceptual barriers and focus on the value of strategically recruiting older workers. This includes practicalities around company performance and the employment, training, motivation, and strategic recruitment of older workers