Grey Skills boss passing over the dream

By PAULA OLIVER

After three years of battling to find jobs for people over 40, Grey Skills founder Brian Murphy is calling it quits.

The 49-year-old Christchurch entrepreneur has put his job-finding business up for sale, after deciding he could not take it to the next level fast enough to satisfy his dream.

That dream, which began in a bed-and-breakfast soon after he arrived from Australia, has inspired Mr Murphy and his wife to help more than 130 "old-timers" into home services work - from handiwork to gardening and painting.

The idea came after he watched the age barrier to work drop lower and lower. But while Mr Murphy leaves happy with his achievements, he admits to frustration with the lack of recognition the effort has received.

He argues that Government organisations, in particular, are not prepared for the problems that will come as the baby-boomer generation gets older.

"I don't want to beat my head against a brick wall every day. It's time to let some corporate take it over and make it what it could be," Mr Murphy said.

"I could reach the national level in 20 years, but by then it will be too late to address the grey problem."

Grey Skills operates in Canterbury, Bay of Plenty and Auckland, but Mr Murphy's dream is to see it established nationwide, giving disillusioned over-40s a new lease on life that prevents them from dipping into their retirement savings.

The most rewarding part of his journey has been seeing the change in people who have fought and previously failed to find work.

"I had a call the other day from the daughter of one of our guys, and she said he was a man who felt like life had finished until we gave him a job," he said. "We've got an industrial psychologist working as a painter, and people who love gardening working in the garden."

Mr Murphy says the future for over-40s lies in part-time work that gives them enough to live on without affecting savings.

They need to realise they may never be a general manager again, and look to do what they enjoy.

He says it has been hard to watch successive Governments turn away from the proven system and refuse to use it as a role model, let alone invite him to employment forums.

"I've met with ministers, with Jim Anderton, and countless local politicians, but maybe they're just sick of my approach," he says.

"I know it works - the cashflow and 40,000 jobs on the list prove it works - but they're not serious about addressing the baby-boomer situation."

He describes the past three years as a very satisfying but somewhat lonely experience, when few business people came forward to give him a simple helping hand.

Mr Murphy is now looking for the right buyer for Grey Skills - he will take only a buyer who has the same vision - and will then move to set up another network in Malaysia or England.