Senior participation in the Australian workforce will rise by more than 4 per cent this decade due to the rise of digital technology and a burgeoning 'anywhere economy', according to research.
The term anywhere economy refers to the growing flexibility of the ways we live and work due to electronic devices, the internet and related digital platforms.
These technological advancements are paving the way for more and more people to work from home or abroad, with the rise of the anywhere economy having been accelerated by the pandemic.
Researchers from think tank Economist Impact surveyed consumers and executives in ten countries and examined new econometric models forecasting potential impacts of the anywhere economy in these countries.
Data revealed that 19.4 per cent of Australians aged 65 or older would be participating in the country's labour force by 2030, up from 15.1 per cent at the start of 2021.
These figures placed Australia somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of overall employment rates of people aged 65 and older. Only 4 per cent of French people aged 65 and older were part of the labour force in 2021, but this figure is projected to more than double to 9 per cent by 2030. By contrast 28 per cent of Mexicans in the age bracket were in the labour force at the start of the period, with a projected increase of 5 per cent by 2030.
Brazil has the biggest projected increase of 6 per cent (from 14-20 per cent) over the 10 year period.
Researchers found flexible work hours and the option to work from home using digital technology would allow more seniors to stay in the workforce for longer.
According to the report, the anywhere economy is set to bring an additional 10 million people aged 65 or older into the labour force in 2030 alone.
This increase was slightly lower than the average of the 10 countries included in the study, which projected a collective increase from 15.1 per cent to 19.7 per cent.
Rural employment also appears to be set to rise, with employment of Australians aged 15 and older in rural areas set to rise by almost 2 per cent (from 60.4 per cent to 62.2 per cent). According to figures, rural labour force participation in Australia is currently 3.4 per cent higher than the ten country average.
The data also revealed Australia to be the leader of the ten countries in terms of female work participation, with 62.1 per cent of women participating in the labour force at the start of the decade, 2 per cent higher than the average across countries.
However, the news wasn't all good from an Australian point of view, with data showing Australian executives investing less in cyber security research and development and cybersecurity.
Only 22.1 per cent of Australian executives had significantly increased cybersecurity practices, falling way behind countries such as the US (32.9 per cent) and the UK (36.3 per cent).
Australian business expenditure in research and development is also falling short of the US and UK. In Australia expenditure is estimated to increase by 41 per cent, compared to 44 per cent and 51 per cent in the US and UK respectively.
Australians are also placing a lower prioritisation on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Only 15.6 per cent of Australian executives said they would significantly increase their use of AI to automate processes as a result of COVID-19.
By comparison, 33.9 per cent of Brazilian executives, 31.2 per cent of Canadian executives and 25 per cent of UK executives said they would significantly increase use of AI.
The research was sponsored by DocuSign. Countries surveyed included the U.S., Australia, Japan, France, Germany, Ireland, the UK, Brazil, Mexico and Canada.
To read the full report click here.
