Reproduced courtesy of  aiea.org.au – Sept. 25, 2015

There is an increasingly desperate debate about the current and projected skills shortage in Australia and how the aging of the population will impact on our standard of living.

Much has been said and written about the possible ways of minimising the looming crisis. Migrant workers, job sharing, telecommuting, flexible work environments, outsourcing, trade and vocational training, mothers returning to the workforce, people with disabilities and the delaying of retirement are all subjects that have been proposed and analysed for their ability to form part of the solution.

One solution which has the potential to provide immediate benefits has not received the attention it deserves.

That solution consists of a large talent pool: those born in the sixties or earlier who have decades of experience that are not in current employment but want to be. Who are these people? Many are from the upper levels of management and find themselves casting around for gainful employment as the result of a voluntary or involuntary dislocation event.

An involuntary dislocation event is usually the result of a retrenchment. Many, perhaps most, of those suffering a retrenchment don’t see it coming and are totally unprepared for the event.

A voluntary dislocation event is often caused by the baby boomer leaving his employ and striking out on his or her own as a consultant. They quickly discover that having a regular flow of assignments requires effort and sales skills. Another one is the person who has formally retired but wishes to remain active in business on a part time basis.

These people find that the recruitment firms, with some rare exceptions, are oriented to the younger candidates and tend to ignore many applicants over 45 years of age.

Older job seekers of executive roles are under the government radar because they do not register with Centrelink and so are not officially counted in the unemployment figures.

Centrelink can’t help. The recruitment agencies can’t help. So we have a large number of capable executives wanting to use their skills but unable to connect with the equally large number of business owners who want to employ them.

What is needed is a different type of agency that specialises in the executive baby boomers and promotes their services to the companies in need. One such agency is AIEA.org.au. AIEA attracts the experienced executive and limits its membership to seasoned managers ranging from Project or Operations Manager through to CFO, CEO and Board positions.

Want to know more? – www.aiea.org.au