TRUTH : Personal productivity increases with age

Ernst & Young (EY) research suggests personal productivity increases with age, finding that:

• 40% of workers aged 45-64 had the highest profile of productivity.

• The importance one places on their own productivity increases with age. Among people aged 55-64 years old, 65% considered productivity to be extremely important, compared to 32% of those aged 20-24 years old*.

TRUTH : Older workers are just as motivated and willing to work flexibly as younger colleagues

Essex Business School reviewed two separate studies of workers at car manufacturers in Germany and found little evidence to support engrained stereotypes of older workers regarding productivity, health, commitment or flexibility. Older workers emerged as being just as motivated and willing to work flexibly as younger colleagues. The lead reviewer noted that older people were often faster at carrying out complex tasks that allowed them to draw on their contextual knowledge and experience^.

TRUTH : Older workers productivity exceeds their contribution to wages bill

Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) undertook a 22-year longitudinal study, and found that productivity increases until the age range of 50-54, whereas wages peak around the age 40-44. The study found the contribution of older workers to firm-level productivity exceeded their contribution to the wages bill. Headquartered in Germany, the IZA is a global network of scholars researching labour economics#.

Sources:

* EY Worker Productivity Scale™ At www.ey.com/AU/en/Services/Advisory/Productivity-Pulse_May_2012_Productivityprofiles.

^ Brian Amble, ‘Older workers just as productive as younger ones’ (2011), Management-Issues newsletter, 9 September 2013.

# Ana Rute Cardoso, Paulo Guimaraes, Jose Varejao, ‘Are Older Workers Worthy of Their Pay? An Empirical Investigation of Age Productivity and Age-Wage Nexuses’, (2011) Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) Discussion Paper No, 5121.