Mature workers bring ‘life skills’

Companies struggling to attract staff should target older workers and tap into the "life skills" they bring to the job, a recruitment seminar has been told.

Speaking at the Travel Industry Careers Association event in Sydney last night, an expert with SageCo, a
company specialising in the recruitment of mature workers, also rubbished the belief that only the young can cope in the technological age.

"It's a fallacy that you can't teach old dogs new tricks and it's fallacy that technology is new and invented by the young," Judy Cole told the seminar. She added: "Do we need qualifications? Wouldn't it be better to bring in someone with life skills and who brings loyalty?"

Managing director of luxury agency Mary Rossi Travel, Claudia Rossi Hudson, said that at her agency young staff could get intimidated by the amount of money clients spend on a holiday. She added: "You can teach someone skills of using a system but you can't teach life skills they haven't had."

In travel young agents also judge what older clients want from their holiday, the seminar heard.