Seven tips to hire a worker aged 50 and over the smart way

Jobactive hiring workers 50 plus

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Been inundated with job applicants when you advertise a vacancy yet can’t find a candidate with staying power? Recruit for fit first, then skills.

Wouldn’t it make sense to hire someone who has worked in multiple jobs, adjusted to different work environments and is experienced? Someone who’s keen to commit to a new role? That someone could be a mature-age worker who’s already had their 50th birthday.

Expand your pool of would-be workers

Tap into a free list of job-ready candidates who have been screened to match your industry and business needs. You’ll get professional end-to-end recruitment services covering all industries. How? Talk to your local jobactive provider  about Restart wage subsidies. You’ll find them in more than 1,700 locations across Australia.

Choose your financial sweetener

Hiring a mature-age person means your jobactive provider could put up to $10,000 in the coffers of your business or organisation. Wage subsidies can be paid to your business over six months and you choose the payment schedule. Just four weeks after taking on a new employee aged 50+, you could get a kick start payment of up to 40% of the of total wage subsidy.

The benefits stack up

Businesses can benefit by hiring older workers, says the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. They can tap into a source of skill and labour, particularly when vacancies are difficult to fill. Mature-aged workers are reliable and committed to work – hiring them means your business can actually promote itself as supporting diversity in the workforce.

Make it work for your business

Hiring a mature worker through jobactive made good business sense for Colin Johns, Managing Director, Transformer Services, which refurbishes and installs high voltage power transformers.

“When someone’s been employed and they’re 50 years old, and they find themselves unemployed, they grasp a new start with both hands. They tend to be loyal, keen and good trainers for young guys.

“The $10,000 [wage subsidy], yes, it’s an incentive, but you take people that aren’t skilled in your industry [so] you have to take them and reskill them. From an employer perspective, they are definitely worth a look. You’ll find you’ve got really good loyal workers for the next 10 years.”

Colin’s hired several mature-age workers through jobactive.

Already hired a mature-age worker?

You can still hook into a wage subsidy even if you’ve already hired a mature-age worker registered with an employment service provider. The deadline is 12 weeks – or 84 calendar days – to contact an employment services provider and apply. For info, call the Employer Hotline on 13 17 15 or visit your local provider on the jobactive website.

Still curious?

More than 9000 jobactive Restart Agreements have helped businesses with financial incentives of up to $10,000 to employ Australians 50 years of age and over. There are factsheets available to help employers save time and money in navigating recruitment.

Produced in partnership with jobactive, the Australian Government’s employment service

Margaret Paton, Journalist/Copywriter, Communications: Keeping It Real