Older workers face another decade stuck with a workplace hangover where the dream of retiring early isn't an option and spending 70 weeks trying to get back into the workforce is the grim reality.
The Australian workforce needs to be much more accommodating for older workers and mature age people trying to find a job, experts say.
Older workers will be stuck in the hangover stage of work for a very long period, University of South Australia human resource management research professor Carol Kulik says.
"They may already be feeling a little unmotivated about their work and now they say `I can't access my super for another five years or maybe I'm not going to be able to retire for another 10 years'," Prof Kulik said.
She says not enough is being done to ensure mature-age employees are motivated and engaged at work, to make staying on the job longer a good experience.
"We're not really seeing businesses jump in and do these things. I think they're assuming that older workers are going to be there, doing the same thing, being managed the same way, just 10 years longer."
More than 25 per cent of people surveyed for workforce management solutions firm Kronos realised they would have to work longer to make ends meet, said its Australia and New Zealand managing director Peter Harte.
"The luxury and dream of retiring at an early age is not an option for them," Mr Harte said.
But most companies were not agile enough to allow mature-age people to come back into the workforce, he said.
Mr Harte said the health care and retail industries tended to be more understanding.
Greg Goudie, executive director of South Australian employment service DOME (Don't Overlook Mature Expertise), said in the past employers' attitude was that once a worker reached 60 was that they were either coasting or ready to retire.
A lot of employers now are keeping people on if they want to stay longer, he said.
But he said a big issue was getting people back into the workforce at a mature age, with people 55 and over spending an average of 70 weeks out of work.
And mature age can mean as young as 40. In recent years an increasing number of people in their 40s and 50s have registered with DOME.
Mr Goudie said in DOME's experience the most mature-age friendly employers tended to be small to medium businesses.
Prof Kulik says some workers will need help to downshift, reducing physical demands or work hours.
Other mature-age workers will want to upskill or take on new work assignments such as mentoring younger staff.
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