5 Reasons Why You Should Not Disregard ‘Older’ Candidates

Hiring people with different backgrounds and experiences can bring a wealth of character in leaders and adds significantly to a business.

A multi-generational workforce has some fantastic benefits for Organisations and there is a strong push on this in relation to HR strategies looking forwards.

There are many, many reasons as to why you should never disregard a candidate purely due to age, so…

Here are 5 key benefits of hiring older candidates

The benefit to recruitment – Think about it, there’s a huge portion of the labour market that is being left untapped if you’re only recruiting the younger generation! Considering a wider range of candidates can only be of benefit to the organisation. The greater the size of the talent pool the better, right?
Skills and experience – Well this one is surely obvious? Those that are of an older generation may have had a wide range of experience in many different areas during their employment history. This experience has undoubtedly taught them a whole host of things which can be applied to a current role. Also remember that something worth considering is the skills shortage we are currently facing in the UK, so discounting older candidates may mean you are missing out on some fabulous skills which are absolutely required within your organisation.
Loyalty – Case studies have shown that older workers are increasingly looking (or needing) to extend their working lives longer than previous generations, with over 50% of ages 55+ planning to work beyond the state pension age. The default retirement age is also no longer forced at 65 years old! This could potentially provide positive outcomes to retention rates in an organisation, and we all know how important loyalty is to a business.
Not discriminating – Age Discrimination is taken extremely seriously under the Equality Act 2010 and it is against the law to discriminate based on age (or many other personal characteristics for that matter). The associated costs to an organisation for age discrimination being well founded in a tribunal can be extremely high. The top band could see a business paying anything up to almost £43,000 for injury to feelings in cases of discrimination. It is vitally important to review your recruitment process and consider whether there are any elements which could be considered as either direct or indirect discrimination. For example, looking at the wording on your adverts. If it states “Looking for a fun, young, spritely sales person”, you’re likely to be discriminating against applicants who are older. If you’re making decisions based on someone’s age, unless you can show that it is objectively justified and proportionate, it will only be seen as discriminatory.
Saving you money – When it comes down to it, older candidates will typically expect a higher pay rate than younger employees. While not every older hire will demand a higher salary, it can be worth every penny to secure a more experienced employee. An older employee can save your business money in the long run by simply helping you avoid costly or time-consuming mistakes. Rather than thinking of a higher salary as an expense, consider it additional insurance that can save you thousands.

There really are many, many benefits to having a diverse workforce (much more than listed here) and research has identified that this correlates significantly to better financial performance! What organisation doesn’t want that?

The main information above is from a guest blog written by Charlotte Batchelor, HR Adviser at Gateway HR.

We recruit throughout the East Midlands covering Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland and the surrounding areas, especially Market harborough, Leicester, Corby and Kettering. We help people find their perfect job and match suitable jobseekers with businesses looking to hire the best candidates across our five specialisms – Sales, Marketing, Accountancy & Finance, HR and Office.