Older and Younger Workers:
What Do Employers Think?
July 2025
AHRI is proud to partner with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) for a fifth time on this important report, which provides valuable insights into the employment climate for both older and younger workers in Australia.
Building on time series data from 2014, 2018, 2021, and 2023, this year’s report expands its focus to explore generational attitudes in the workplace more broadly. It examines how both older and younger workers are perceived and supported across Australian organisations, against the backdrop of acute recruitment difficulties and high vacancy rates.
Despite the tight Australian labour market, the survey highlights persistent age-based barriers to employment at both ends of the age spectrum. Additionally, this year’s findings suggest that the age at which employers begin to classify workers as “older” appears to be shifting downwards.
Key Findings
Older workers are overwhelmingly viewed as more loyal (74 per cent), more reliable (64 per cent) and better able to cope with stress (62 per cent) than younger workers.
A majority of survey respondents consider younger workers more creative, energetic, adaptable to change, ambitious, physically capable, and proficient in using technology.
A large majority of HR professionals report being open “to a large extent” to hiring people aged between 25 and 34 (80 per cent) and those aged between 35 and 49 (78 per cent).
Around two in five (41 per cent) employers report being open to recruiting from jobseekers aged between 15 and 24 “to a large extent” and 28 per cent report being open to hiring those aged 65 and over “to a large extent”.
More than one in six (18 per cent) of HR professionals report that they are not open to hiring people aged 65 and over “at all”.
Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of this year’s respondents consider workers aged between 51 and 55 to be older, more than double the proportion from 2023 (10 per cent) and significantly higher than 2021 (17 per cent).
The three most significant barriers to hiring older workers are a lack of older worker applicants (36 per cent), concerns about high salary expectations (32 per cent) and candidates having too much experience (28 per cent).
Flexible-working arrangements (72 per cent), making recruitment content inclusive across age groups (67 per cent), and using a skills-based approach to hiring (52 per cent) are the most common practices used by Australian organisations to support age-diverse recruitment.
The three most significant barriers to recruiting younger workers are a lack of experience (57 per cent), high salary expectations (43 per cent) and a lack of qualifications (24 per cent).
Flexible-work options (80 per cent), job satisfaction (73 per cent) and phased retirement (49 per cent) are the measures that are most likely to encourage individuals to stay in the workforce for longer.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Madeleine Hanley
Head of Media Relations, FleishmanHillard
M +61 423 366 918 | E [email protected]