A specialist recruitment service for workers over the age of 50 has been launched by Manpower Ireland, writes Ciarán Brennan

Recruitment company Manpower Ireland has launched a specialist recruitment division to serve workers in the 50-plus age bracket.

The company says it is the first recruitment company in the State to provide this type of service to both older workers and Irish employers.

The new specialist division, Manpower Mature, will focus on assisting older workers to get back into the workforce and helping older workers to change jobs at a later stage in their career. It will also work to re-educate and alter the mindset of Irish employers in relation to older workers.

"There is a large untapped market out there but there is a bit of a mountain to climb because we are looking at a mindset and cultural issue," said Ciaran Williams, who is heading up the new unit at Manpower and who himself is over 50.

"Throughout the renowned Celtic Tiger, Irish employers have been conditioned by economic growth to favour young and dynamic graduates.

"As a result, older workers are finding it more and more difficult to get back into the workforce if they have taken a career break or even if they are just trying to change jobs."

With the labour market remaining very tight, it doesn't make sense for companies to cut themselves off from a source of employees, says Williams.

"It would be unwise, and they would not be doing themselves any favours to have tunnel vision. With older people, companies are buying into a wealth of untapped ability, knowledge, wisdom, loyalty and commitment."

Williams highlighted the experience of DIY firm B&Q with its branch in Macclesfield, Cheshire, which only employed the over-50s in a pilot project when it first opened. A study by the University of Warwick showed that profits there were 18 per cent higher than at the chain's other stores; staff turnover was six times lower, absenteeism was 39 per cent less, and do-it-yourself customers hugely appreciated being able to draw on the staff's personal experience.

B&Q still has a policy of targeting older workers, and almost 20 per cent of its staff is over 50.

Despite such positive examples elsewhere, an internal survey carried out by Manpower Ireland showed that just 9 per cent of Irish employers have strategies in place to recruit older workers.

The survey also revealed that only 26 per cent of employers have implemented retention strategies to keep older staff members participating in the workforce after retirement age.

"By 2025 it is predicted that 36 per cent of Ireland's population will be aged 50-plus so Irish employers need to start thinking now about their future staffing plans, and realise that older workers are probably the single largest untapped resource in the recruitment industry in Ireland today," said Williams.

"Older workers can offer employers a depth of experience, loyalty and commitment, and we plan to use our expertise in this area, as well as our strong relationships with existing and new clients, to change this mindset."

Manpower's new division is being launched to coincide with this week's Say No To Ageism Week, an initiative instigated by the Equality Authority, the Health Service Executive and the National Council on Ageing and Older People.

The Irish launch is an extension of similar programmes Manpower has run in other countries as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.

Williams rejects the idea that the division is some form of tokenism or a public relations stunt. "I am not hired as a token and I have a target to meet," he says.

"We're just trying to tap into a new candidate base."