Summit to focus on retaining older workers

Businesses need to look at retaining older staff in the face of a growing skills shortage, the co-ordinators of a workplace leaders' summit say.

Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Dr Judy McGregor and Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan have organised the leaders' summit, which aims to develop practical strategies and actions to increase the number of older workers.

Today's summit will be attended by the CTU, Business New Zealand, industry groups and representatives of Government departments with an interest in employment, as well as researchers, community representatives and individual older workers.

"New Zealand will need around 100,000 more people at work in the next 20 years just to stand still and yet older people are often the last to be considered or suffer covert discrimination," Dr McGregor said.

She said baby boomers approaching retirement should consider whether they want to continue in paid work and what would make them stay.

The social benefits, Dr McGregor said, included the positive impact on social cohesion, on knowledge transfer and on the individual sense of identity and self-esteem of mature workers.

The Employment of the Older Worker Summit will be held in Wellington.

- NZPA