TAEN / EHRC Conference

Age Diversity in the Downturn
Business Benefits of Creative Approaches to Age Management
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, 20 March 2009

Employers who value older workers’ skills and experience are better placed to emerge from the recession, international experts told delegates at the conference organised by TAEN for the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Older workers are definitely part of the solution, not the problem. Nevertheless, managing age diversity in a downturn is not easy.

Speakers discussed how flexible working practices from around the world have helped organisations improve performance and emerge from troubled times.  Other issues explored ranged from how imaginative learning projects have changed the lives of older local government manual workers in Australia, how German Railways manage demographic change, how post 50-year-old workforce issues are being addressed in the US, and how Centrica has retained older workers through flexible initiatives and apprenticeships. The conference was moderated by Channel 4 News presenter Samira Ahmed.