Are you forgetting about mature age workers?

It can be tough to find the right person to fill vacant roles, but this task is even harder for employers who are ignoring an entire demographic in their recruitment drives. 

While all businesses will have an idea of the skills they are looking for, they might not realise that these are prevalent throughout multiple age ranges. It could be worth putting your recruitment software to the test and expanding your search into different age ranges. 

This is according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which found mature age workers could solve a number of issues companies are facing, such as skills gaps. 

What else did the study find?

While Australia isn't leading the world when it comes to hiring mature age workers – that honour goes to Iceland – it is making progress. PwC discovered that Australia has moved up five places since the survey was last held, reaching 15th. 

Across the ditch, New Zealand is not far off leading the way, remaining in second internationally. According to PwC, if Australia could match or better New Zealand's position in these rankings it would see up to $24 billion in GDP growth. 

PwC believes the problem isn't an economic one, but is instead inherently social, with a stigma surrounding employees of this age. Global People Leader at the firm Jon Williams says there are plenty of benefits to hiring mature age workers that Australian employers are currently missing out on.

"Employing more mature workers doesn't block the path for younger workers, it actually makes our nation stronger, as more workers generates more demand and therefore more jobs in the economy," he said.

"However we need to change our social bias toward older workers to allow this to happen."

The advice comes at the perfect time for Australian businesses, with new measures outlined in the budget to encourage mature age employment. For example, companies that hire workers aged 50 or over are entitled to wage subsidies.