CASE STUDIES

IAG and the ageing population

Organisations that have workforces made up of people from different ethnic backgrounds, ages, and family situations with a good gender balance in all professions are more in touch with customers, which is good for business. They are also more likely to be understanding and fair, which is good for employees. Also, they are a place where employment opportunities are available to many across the community, which is good for everyone.

The 2004 IAG Age Profile indicates that almost 56% of our workforce is under the age of 35 and only 20% is over the age of 45.

We believe that it is important to create an understanding workforce that reflects the life experience of our customers. For us, there is no alternative but to be on the front line of responsible corporate action to do something about ageing in our society. In just over 10 years, the number of Australians retiring will exceed those coming in to the workforce. [Source: ACTU & BCA (2003) Age Can Work - A Business Guide to Support Older Workers]

If we, and companies like us, can do more to increase the participation rate of mature age workers, then the nation will have a more sustainable workforce into the future and alleviate the growing burden on our health, aged care and pension systems.

So work has begun on an age management plan to:

• retain employees with extensive corporate experience and learning;
• create a workforce that better mirrors the demographics of our communities and customers; and
• increase community perceptions of IAG as a "Mature Age Worker" Employer of Choice.

Our overall aim is to obtain a better balance across the different age segments in IAG's workforce. It's for this reason, that we're tracking the age bracket with the greatest disconnect between our workforce and the Australian Labour Force - the 25-34 age group.

Our progress against these aims will be reported in the 2006 Sustainability Report.