Blocking older people from productive work will rebound badly on society, says a Victoria University researcher.
In another decade more than 20 per cent of the population would be 65 or older and cutting them out of work would be bad for all age groups, said psychology student Joanne Brown.
As part of her doctorate research she is looking at how people aged 50-65, the "baby-boomers," cope with job loss. She said they were the single-largest generation alive today and medical advances meant they would live longer.
But they faced a world of work that technology was changing rapidly. Jobs were often short-lived and workers needed more flexibility than was required 20 to 30 years ago.
Ms Brown said she was pleased that the Government had set aside funding for research into employer attitudes.
Employers sometimes considered mature people either overqualified or not up-to-date with skills.
- NZPA
www.myjob.co.nz
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from New Zealand
'He might never be the same': Auckland schoolboy suffers vicious bus station attack
The boy now is too shaken to go to school, while his mum fears the pair may strike again.