The Cost of Hiring Older Workers

To the Editor:

Marc Freedman’s incisive thinking and leadership on the possibilities afforded by the aging of the baby boomers has made him one of the most important voices in the nonprofit world.

His article (“Challenge the Boomers to Make a Difference,” My View, March 6) sets out an innovative path for boomers to make a profound and lasting impact. I believe he veers a bit off course, however, in describing older workers.

While the cost of some benefits such as health care increases with age, a report prepared for AARP by Towers Perrin concluded that the extra per-employee total compensation cost of retaining or attracting more 50-plus workers ranged from negligible to 3 percent in key industries.

The research found that older workers are more motivated than younger workers to exceed expectations on the job. Earlier research by Towers Perrin found that motivation is highly correlated with engagement.

Workers who are 50-plus bring important assets to the job, including maturity, skills, experience, reliability, and commitment. All these attributes make older workers a huge asset for the nonprofit sector.

We all need to break free of inaccurate stereotypes about older workers.

Thomas C. Nelson
Chief Operating Officer
AARP
Washington