Don’t hire cheap migrants just off the plane. Hire older Australian workers who’ve proved their metal and paid their dues. I also don’t hear the PC crowd attacking victims of age prejudice. This story is from the ABC.
Finding it hard to find another role in the corporate world — which he puts down to his age — 56-year old Jeremey Murray decided to swap spreadsheets for baking sheets.
“I’ve always loved to bake, I’ve always loved to cook, so why don’t I see if I can make it a career?'”
Mr Murray signed up to an 18-month patisserie training course and is running a baking business from home. He’s part of a growing number of Australians re-skilling and changing careers later in life.
In WA, which has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, more than 4,000 of the state’s apprentices and trainees are currently over the age of 45 – a figure that’s doubled in the past two years.
Nationally, there are 39,000 mature-age apprentices and trainees, up more than 70 per cent from before the pandemic.
Sally Mlikota runs a recruitment agency in Cairns. Around half of the people looking for work on her books are over 45 years old.
“We’re not talking about someone who’s been a baker all their life, all of a sudden becoming an accountant,” Ms Mlikota said.
“We’re talking about someone who’s perhaps worked in an office, but never specialised in finance, or they might have been a teacher and they’ve got the communication skills”
Despite this willingness for older Australians to retrain and stay in the workforce, ageism is rampant. Mr Murray says he encountered it when he was looking for work, despite being highly experienced and having three degrees.