WAR FOR ‘REAL AGE’ TALENT INTENSIFIES
Although more Australian’s than ever are engaged in fulltime work, the nation is experiencing a skills crisis extending from engineering to hairdressing.
According to A Newspoll survey released this month, more than 65 per cent of Australian workers are not happy in their chosen career.
Employer branding specialist Nicholas Ricciuti of Everybody’s Career Company (ECC) refers to this market as ‘Real Age’ career people, “Workers of any age with a few years experience in their current vocation, suddenly realising they are either happy with their career or adversely decide to change it.”
Research from The University of Tasmania shows that Australian’s will change their career up to seven times in their life.*
Julie Farthing, President of the Victorian branch of the Australian Association of Career Counsellors says those thinking about a career change need to gather as much information as possible.
“Those in the midst of a career transition need to do research, explore their options, and find out exactly what opportunities are available,” she says.
In an effort to ease this transition, the 2008 Reinvent Your Career Expo will be Australia’s first intentional ‘Real Age’ career expo. Its intention will be to bring together under one roof major
employers, training organisations and educators with members of the career transitioning public.
Mr Ricciuti states, “Increasingly, organisations are having real problems attracting quality candidates. We are in the midst of a war for talent. Companies and organisations are starting to recognise the need to communicate with ‘Real Age’ career people using employer branding channels”.
“The average age of an Australian today is 37 years. By the year 2016, people aged 45 and over will account for more than 80 per cent of growth in Australia’s labour force*. Therefore companies, organisations, educators and training providers need to take notice and shift their focus from Gen Y (those born 1980 to 1994) to include the neglected Gen X’ers (those born 1965 to 1979) and Baby Boomers (those born 1946 to 1964)”, he says.
Mr Ricciuti goes on, “Companies need to recognise the importance of branding their organisation as a choice employer to the ‘Real Age’ career market. The Expo couldn’t have come at a better time for the Australian labour market.”
He says, “The short and mid term future for the economic prosperity of Australia is dependent on the successful transitioning of the boomers and X’ers into current and proposed skills shortage areas”.