Starbucks recently opened its first cafe in Mexico City, operated by 14 employees ages 50 and older. The coffee giant aims to hire 120 seniors in Mexico by the end of 2019 as reported here by Reuters. What a terrific match of job and skills! Not physically demanding, socially engaging and flexible working hours. Perfect. If […]
employment
Are older women the economic saviours of Japan?
Japan’s working-age population has shrunk more than 11 percent from its mid-1990s peak, and still falling. This has made companies desperate for talent and it seems that older women (those aged 55-64) are filling the vacancies. In 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the General Assembly of the UN; “Creating an environment in which women […]
Is ‘anti-ageing’ an ageist descriptor for brands?
Commonly used in the beauty world, I have long maintained that the expression ‘anti-ageing’ is ageist. It implies there’s something wrong with ageing. Imagine if skin-whitening treatments were positioned on an ‘anti-black’ platform! Now there are signs that the anti-ageing term is losing popularity. According to this article in Elle, Google reported that last year […]
Intergenerational engagement – welcome to the ageless future.
Intergenerational engagement in society or in business is our future, so let’s get with it! In marketing terms, we’ve coined the phrase Lifetime Customer Experience, where products are created, marketed and sold to people regardless of their age. In a world where attitudes and behaviours are no longer defined by age, it makes sense that our world becomes […]
Ageing even strikes the priesthood
Loneliness is the bane of older age and it is having a profound impact on the Catholic priesthood. In France, about 800 Catholic priests die every year while just 100 are ordained. Priest numbers there have fallen by almost 50% since 1995, according to this article in The Economist. In America, while the number of Catholics has […]
How your occupation will affect your retirement age
Somewhat surprisingly, it’s not just the manual labour jobs that get affected, “age-related decline” hits even well-educated professionals. This according to research conducted by Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research. The research affirmed that as we get older, not all our skills decline at the same rate. And in some ways, we get better. Older workers tend […]
Breaking down the stereotypes of older workers
We are at war. A war against ageism and stereotypes. Older consumers, workers and citizens, need to join the fight to stop being pigeon-holed by out-dated stereotypes. I recently wrote about ageism in the marketing/advertising industry but here are some compelling myth-busters from the Wall Street Journal about the wider labour force (USA). Myth 1: I’m […]
Is advertising a young person’s game?
As an old (ageing) adman myself, I have often claimed that advertising is a ‘young person’s game’.
Australian disconnect between the media and the (older) consumer
The average Australian marketer is a 27-year-old male, which goes some way to explaining the disconnect in advertising for over 50s.
A glaring omission in McKinsey’s answers to the ageing workforce
Clue; it’s going to take more than “flexible hours, part-time schedules, and the ability to work from home”. In this article titled; “New talent tensions in an era of lower investment returns”, McKinsey paints a familiar scenario where the benefits longer working lives could evaporate if organizations cannot figure out how to make sure their aging workforces […]
