Australia’s standing in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) rankings for employment of mature age workers has moved up, yet it still remains far behind New Zealand’s strong results.
PwC Global People Business leader Jon Williams said Australia’s stronger ranking, which moved up 5 spots to come in at 15th place, benefited from the Federal Government’s moves to increase participation and support the country’s ageing demographic.
“While Australia is in the middle of the pack moving from 20th to 15th place among the 34 nations, New Zealand continues to excel, maintaining its second place behind Iceland,” Mr Williams said.
“If Australia could match New Zealand’s mature age employment rate, Australia could generate an annual average increase of $24 billion in nominal GDP.”
PwC’s economic projections, based on the Federal Treasury’s Intergenerational Report, have forecast Australia’s GDP will increase by 4.7 per cent by 2050, the Commonwealth and state/territory budget will climb to be 1.7 per cent of GDP, and debt will see a net reduction of 11 per cent GDP.
The Golden Age Index found Iceland had the strongest rate of employed mature age workers, followed by New Zealand, Sweden, Israel and Norway.
Mr Williams said changing the current social bias toward mature workers will benefit the economy.
“We are stuck in a cradle to grave model of career progression with a stigma towards changing careers and taking a step back,’ Mr Williams said.
“Treasurer Joe Hockey’s appointment of Susan Ryan AO as the first Ambassador for Mature Age Employment is a great step forward.
“It’s pleasing to see the Federal Government’s commitment to a group of workers that are sometimes overlooked.”
