Too Young to Retire, Too Old to Hire? ECU Researcher Weighs in on Workplace Ageism

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Too Young to Retire, Too Old to Hire? ECU Researcher Weighs in on Workplace Ageism

Friday, 10 October 2025

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Finding a job can be challenging at the best of times. But for many older Australians, the final stretch before reaching pension age is becoming one of the toughest stages of their working lives. It’s an issue that ECU’s School of Business and Law is helping bring to the national spotlight.

With the pension age now lifted to 67 and cost-of-living pressures mounting, more Australians need to keep working for longer. An ABC News article this week explored the growing challenge for Australians in their late 50s and early 60s who are looking for work but finding themselves shut out of roles, despite years of experience.

Whether it’s because of outdated assumptions, systemic barriers, or a job market that still leans too heavily on younger candidates, the trend is concerning. Unemployment among Australians aged 55–64 has risen from 2.7% in 2022–23 to 3.1% in 2024–25.

And when older Australians do lose work, they remain unemployed for far longer; an average of 86 weeks, more than double the 37 weeks for younger jobseekers.

Professor Ben Farr-Wharton from ECU School of Business and Law highlighted the economic and social consequences of age-based exclusion.

The Forgotten Workforce

Policies are shifting to extend working lives, yet discrimination and bias continue to edge many older workers out before they reach retirement.

This leaves thousands of people in a stressful limbo: too young for the pension, but locked out of secure, meaningful work.

ECU’s Professor of Workforce Strategy, Ben Farr-Wharton, told the ABC that the issue goes deeper than economics.

“There’s this sense that if you’re an older worker you’re more disposable — that you might be of less value than a younger colleague who’s more technologically adept,” he said.

The consequences of these repeated rejections aren’t only financial. Research shows that exclusion from the workforce at this stage of life often leads to poorer health outcomes, reduced wellbeing, and a loss of valuable skills and knowledge from workplaces.

“When you think about the costs to the individual, their families, and to society more broadly — this is not just a workforce problem, it’s a fairness problem,” Professor Farr-Wharton told the ABC.

From Research to Real Change

By bringing evidence and expertise into the national conversation, ECU School of Business and Law researchers are helping to reframe the debate: from seeing older workers as ‘less capable’ to recognising them as a vital part of a diverse and resilient workforce.

Professor Farr-Wharton believes policy shifts, such as adopting New Zealand’s model, which allows pensioners to work without harsh pension cuts, could help build fairer, more multigenerational workplaces in Australia.

“A workplace that might have multi-generations within it is ultimately stronger.” He noted.

A National Conversation We Can’t Ignore

With labour shortages in sectors like aged care, healthcare, and trades, tapping into the skills and reliability of older Australians isn’t just fair, it’s smart business.

With experts like Professor Farr-Wharton leading the conversation, ECU is helping build a future where experience is recognised as an asset, and Australians of all ages can thrive in meaningful work.

School of Business and Law