‘Tick & flick’?

Mature age jobseekers

and employment services

Dina Bowman, Brotherhood of St Laurence; Michael McGann, University of Melbourne,

Helen Kimberley, Brotherhood of St Laurence; Simon Biggs, University of Melbourne;

Overview

• Background and policy context

• The study

• Some initial findings

• Some implications and next steps

Baby boomer bulge

http://theconversation.com/take-it-easy-fellas-old-age-spread-could-make-you-healthier-631

‘Consider the expectation that a 72-year-

old man should be as strong or as fast as a

30-year-old man. It is unrealistic but policy

makers, health professionals and the

population at large seem to expect that the

body composition of a 72-year-old man

should be the same as that of a 30-year-

old man.’ Professor Almeida, Uni WA

The other baby boomer bulge

Patterns of employment across the life-course

Across the OECD, participation in employment declines sharply from mid-life

Source: Compiled from OECD Stats Library (2013)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

15-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70+

%

Age group

Employment/Population, 2011

Men (OECD)

Men (Australia)

Women (OECD)

Women (Australia)

Working longer?

Policy concerns

Intergenerational report 2015 p.58

65

(2015)

66

(2019)

67 (2023)

68 (2027)

69 (2031)

70 (2035)

Increase in pension eligibility age

Working longer?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-23/susan-ryan/6414650

Mature age participation rate

ABS Original data

Mature age unemployment

No. Long-term Newstart Allowance recipients, characteristics by sex, June 2010-2013 DSS 2014,13,12,11

Long term Mature-age NA recipients

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

100,000

2010 2011 2012 2013

45-49 persons

50-59 persons

≥60 persons

• 248,000 mature age Australians on Newstart (Mar 2015) - up 93,000 since June 2008 (Dept of

Employment, LMIP data)

• 65% of MA jobseekers registered with Centrelink in March 2015 registered for over a year

• 46% registered with Centrelink for 2+ years Source: Dept of Employment, Mature age population by duration of

registration March 2015

Policy responses

Employers

Older Workers

Labour market

intermediaries

• Wage subsidies (Restart)

• Age management toolkits

(NSA kit, Investing in

Experience)

• Age positive campaign

• Higher pension and

superannuation preservation

ages

• Tax incentives (Work Bonus)

• Re-skilling and retraining

Supp

ly s

ide

Dem

and s

ide

Most research in relation to LMIs and mature age jobseekers has focused on recruitment agencies

• ‘recruitment agencies often perform a gate-keeping function that can exclude mature age workers’

(ALRC 2013: 4.4)

• use of employment agencies has resulted in recruiters becoming younger → potential for age

incongruence and discrimination (Patrickson & Ranzijn 2003)

• ‘requirement to gain regular or repeat business may enable discriminatory employers to more easily

condition agencies into accepting covert age discrimination as a business norm’ (Handy & Davy

2007)

Job Services Australia 2009-2015

• Quasi-market design continued reflecting ‘consensus

that welfare-to-work is best delivered by private agencies

operating under short-term government contracts’

(Considine et al. 2014)

• greater use of accredited training, focus on

achieving outcomes for more highly disadvantaged

jobseekers, and emphasise delivering longer-term

employment outcomes (+6 months) (Fowkes 2011)

• 4 streams depending on assessed barriers

• ‘Softening’ of compliance framework, although ‘workfare

paternalism’ (Mestan 2014)

Employment services research

1. Marketisation

2. Employment services and income

support – mutual obligation

3. Contractual compliance

4. Routinisation

5. De-professionalisation

Routinisation

Strongly agree or agree that: 1998

(%) 2008 (%) 2012 (%)

‘Our computer system tells me what steps to take with jobseekers and when to take them.’ 17.4 47.4 50.4

‘When it comes to day-to-day work I am free to decide for myself what I will do with each

jobseeker’ 84.6 62.5 60.2

Source: Considine, Lewis & O’Sullivan (2011); Considine et al. (2013)

When I came back into the industry

[after a 12 month break], every

single consultant had a computer

on their desk and they dealt with

the computer, and the person on

the other side was just an

instrument to complete the

compliance. (quoted in Considine et al. 2011) 2011)

De-professionalisation of frontline workers

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Staff under 35yrs Female staff Vocational Certificate

Diploma Degree

Changing profile of frontline workers

1998

2008

2012

Sourc

e: extr

acte

d f

rom

Consid

ine

& L

ew

is (

2010);

Consid

ine e

t al. (

2013);

Lew

is (

2013)

• ‘The use of client classification tools, or other structured assessment instruments ...

replaces part of the skill set that a case manager might otherwise need’ (Considine et

al. 2011: 821)

• ‘In the absence of a critical framework, low qualified workers are more likely to simply

follow the standard department guidelines rather than use their discretion or introduce

new responses in service delivery’ (Giuliani 2013)

Research on MA jobseekers & job services

• Older jobseekers especially liable to being ‘parked’ on

the basis that providers may see them as less

employable and harder-to-place than younger

jobseekers (Kerr et al. 2002)

• MA jobseekers perceived services as offering little real

assistance to mature age jobseekers ‘predicated on a

set negative assumptions about [their] life experience,

job histories and training’ (Kossen & Hammer 2010)

• Mature age jobseekers ‘confronted by young,

inexperienced staff who are unable to empathise with

the problems encountered by older people (Encel & Studencki 2004)

• Injustice of a system that focuses excessively on what

mature age jobseekers owe and ignores their

substantial work histories and contributions (Anaf et al. 2014;

Kossen & Hammer 2010)

Study of lived experiences of 80 older

men and women who:

• haven’t been able to find a job or

• are under-employed

Statistical study of :

• factors shaping mature age un – and

under-employment

• Impacts on financial and personal

wellbeing

About the study

Key research questions

• What are the factors shaping under-employment and unemployment among older

Australians? How do these differ between men and women of different ages?

• How does reduced labour force participation affect older men and women’s wellbeing

and expectations about growing older?

• How can existing employment services and programs better assist mature age

jobseekers?

Understanding and preventing workforce vulnerabilities in midlife and beyond is supported by

the Australian Research Council, Brotherhood of St Laurence and Jobs Australia.

Selected characteristics of those using

employment services

Newstart

(n=22)

DSP

(n=8)

Voluntary

(n=3)

Total

(n=33)

Male 8 2 3 13

Female 14 6 20

45-54 13 6 19

55-64 9 2 3 14

Year 12 or equivalent 1 1

Vocational certificate 4 3 1 8

Diploma or advanced diploma 6 1 1 8

Degree or higher 11 4 1 15

Clerical and administrative 7 3 10

Community and personal service 2 2 4

Machinery operators and labourers 2 2

Technicians and trades 3 1 2 6

Professionals and managers 8 2 1 11

Married or partnered 8 1 3 12

Separated, divorced, or widowed 4 4 8

Single, never married 10 3 13

The mature age job seekers we

interviewed spoke of:

• Compulsion and a sense of ‘going

through the motions

• A white collar support gap

• Age mismatch / lack of intergenerational

awareness

3 key findings in relation to job services

‘Carelessness’, compulsion and going through the motions

It’s just something you go through to be seen to be doing things, so you can get a

Newstart benefit ...

I’m meant to approach 12 jobs per week. Which is a lot ... you end up making up a

report to tick the boxes, because the expectations of actually doing it is totally

unreasonable ... As long as you [are] actually marching to the beat of the drum, tick all

the boxes that are required ... they don’t really care, they kick you off and give you

another appointment three weeks later. And the cycle continues

(Ed, 54, advertising professional)

Well they [Centrelink] force me to. I have an interview this afternoon.

(Nicole, 56, Newstart, personal service worker)

Yeah I have [been using JSA] because you have to ... I found the new one that I

belong to they’re absolutely wonderful and respectful. But the rest of them ... they’ve

been very disrespectful and they don’t think that you’ve got any rights ...

(Kate, 54, Newstart, social worker)

‘Compliance is too often confused with engagement’ (Giuliani 2013: 8)

Performative technologies, involving auditing and

evaluating, have directed attention to the

measureable, no matter how inappropriate this may

be...Incessant auditing and measuring is a recipe for

self-display and the fabrication of image over

substance....

Working under constant surveillance also breeds a

culture of compliance: there is little incentive to

innovate or to challenge prevailing orthodoxies

necessary though that may be’

(K. Lynch, ‘Carelessness: A hidden doxa of higher education’)

I had to go and see her once every 6 weeks or something like that, it

was a tick-and-flick ... Walk in there, tick the boxes in the paper

and flick me ... there is no heart and soul in it (Ian, 63, HR,

Newstart)

Sometimes I think the things they do have nothing to do with helping

me, but just to make them look like they’re doing something, and

they’re not really doing something (Miriam, 55, Newstart, local govt)

They will see you for less than 2 minutes, they just want you to sign

that you have been there ... (Claire, 54, Newstart, receptionist)

You go there and they ask you, “Uh what’s happening?” I mean what

a waste ... I said, “Here I am, I am 60 years old, I’ve got problems

with my fingers ... And from you, you keep asking me things; not what

can you do for me?” And that’s the only time they look at my file ...

and told me “you need to be assessed”. I was only assessed only 2

weeks ago, and that’s why I am in Stream 3 (Veronica, Newstart,

bookkeeper)

‘Tick-and-flick’

White collar support gap

basically they’d say to me, we’ve got blue collar jobs here. We have [tonnes] of dishwashers and supermarket packers,

we don’t have anything for you. (Sharon 50, officer administrator, Newstart)

they probably cater more to the younger crowd and em, the ones that have just left school. And they know where they

can get jobs, those jobs are pretty plentiful—like retail and hospitality, or those kinds of things. And that’s the easiest path

to take, whereas for us people who may have special needs that we kind of get put on a side rail. (Jim 55, IT, Newstart)

I ended up half sort of taking [the workshop] myself . They just focused on ... some basic principles of maintaining your

self-esteem; ensuring that, you know, your personal presentation was up to scratch; completing the research to ensure

that when you did apply for a job you were not walking in blind ... Most of those ideas came from myself. Well the lady that

was facilitating the workshop, by her own admission, specialised in finding employment for people with a disability (63,

Newstart, HR)

the classes were not helpful to me. I've already got a good CV. I've gotten three jobs this year, they just weren't as full-time

or as permanent as I'd like ... Some of the other folks there just want me to plug into something no matter how

inappropriate it is. That was the other job, she wanted to start me out as an entry-level receptionist. She said, “You worked

your way up once, you can do it again.” (Miriam, 55, Newstart, local government project officer)

It has just been a matter of, you know, they send me off to a TAFE for a couple of days, I get the Certificate in Food

Handling, or whatever it might be, and this does not lead to any jobs because half the population seems to have this

certificate in Food Handling or whatever it might be ... (Kevin, DSP, 53, transcriber/copy editor)

Job search and vocational training seen as offering little

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Managers

Professionals

Technicians and Trades Workers

Community and Personal Services Workers

Clerical and Administrative Workers

Sales Workers

Machinery Operators and Drivers

Labourers

HILDA: Newstart recipients’ occupation by age

MA on Newstart (45+yrs) Prime age jobseekers (25-44 yrs) Youth on Newstart (15-24)

Source: HILDA 2013 data courtesy of Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Manufacturing

Construction

Retail trade

Accommodation and food services

Transport, postal and warehousing

Administrative and support services

Public administration and safety

Education and training

Health care and social assistance

Other services

HILDA: Newstart recipients’ industry by age

MA on Newstart (45+yrs) Prime age jobseekers (25-44 yrs) Youth on Newstart (15-24)

Source: HILDA 2013 data courtesy of Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre

Age gap - unconscious bias, lack of intergenerational awareness

I could see all those consultants, they look so young ... They look at you like they’re

going to be kind of hesitant to tell you something, or whatever... I would imagine that at

least 80 per cent of their ages are between 25 to 35 at the most, or even younger

(Veronica, Newstart, bookkeeper, 60)

I have found it very, very difficult to convey to them my sheer need for work ... [Name of

current provider] excelled by the fact that the staff members that I’ve dealt with were

approximately my own age.

With a lot of these agencies, you know, I’m talking about people who are 20 years of 30

years younger than me. And I just can’t get through to them what it’s like, especially

when you’re in your 50s, because I mean, they’re so young for the most part, they think

they’ve got it all ... (Kevin, DSP, transcriber/copy editor)

Quite often I found myself dealing with mid-20-year old, predominantly

female, fast-tracked HR graduates, who had little or no life skills and

work experience skills. They just regurgitated what they got taught at the

university and/or the company’s policies and procedures with little

understanding about [the] human condition (Neil, 55, mechanic)

He [consultant who filled in] was older than I was ... And we talked about

more of the issues that I experienced rather than how many boxes I had to

tick. And that’s the thing that a 24-year-old, in their first job out of the uni – I

mean, what’s she going to tell me? And it’s quite insulting ... And she treats

me with a degree of “I’m talking to my father” as well ...

The last appointment I had, the thing that stuck me, she went ... “Do you

know at 55 ... you can go and get some volunteer work 15 hours a week,

and then you don’t have to do any of this. Might that be great?” And I said “I

need to work ... I can’t survive like this.” And she just looked at me and goes

“You should be happy.” It was just nonsense. And that’s the naiveté as I

looked at this young girl’s eyes.

(Ed, Newstart, advertising professional)

Systematic misrecognition of their substantive experience?

Some conclusions

Employment services – and other labour market intermediaries play an

important role in assisting mature age jobseekers

Underlying assumption of system design—that jobseekers are low-skilled and

seeking entry-level pathways—out of sync with circumstances of increasingly

numerous older jobseekers

• Job-matching and employer-engagement strategies need to move beyond

manual and elementary service occupations if system is to adapt to

demographic ageing

• Building intergenerational awareness between jobseekers and

employment service providers is important

• Current training packages—e, Cert III and IV in Employment Services—include

modules on understanding jobseekers with disability, mental health issues, and

from CALD backgrounds, but not older workers

The experience of mature age jobseekers

using employment services is just one

aspect of this study. We’re also reporting

on our findings in relation to:

• Gendered age discrimination

• Job design

• Age friendly workplaces

• Job pathways

• Impacts on financial and personal

wellbeing

Next steps

For more information

www.workinglonger.wordpress.com

Image and other references on request

Michael McGann mmgann@unimelb.edu.au or

Dina Bowman dbowman@bsl.org.au