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©Copyright 2000 Rogers Media. The following article first appeared in the August 2001 edition of
BENEFITS CANADA magazine.
INSIGHTS
Contrarian views, news and international intrigue
By Deanna Rosolen
Claude Gervais has learned how to prepare a resume, what to say and what not to
say during an interview and that volunteer work will enhance his job prospects. Gervais is 61 years
old. He's been using the services at Laval, Que.-based l'Association Midi-Quarante, an association
that offers re-employment strategies for people over 40 who have been laid off or offered severance
packages and early retirement. In June, the association launched a pilot project with Emploi
Québec to help employers retain older workers.
With an aging population, says Lucie Tanguay, conseillâre with the
ministâre de l'emploi solidarité sociale in Montreal, Quebec may be facing a worker
shortage. Through each recession older workers are let go first and with them goes a wealth of
expertise--and staff. By 2005, 40% of Quebec's population will be over the age of 45 and by
2011, the number of people working or looking for work will decline. "If you want to keep your
business running, you'll have to find new ways to keep your people longer," says
Tanguay.
That's one aim of the pilot project. It's going to attempt to work "ahead of
the problem," says Tanguay, by examining what expertise employers will need and how older
workers can fill those voids. Discussions with employers will begin this month. Until the
project is complete, it won't be known how it will affect employers' benefits and pension
programs.
The other aim of the project is to keep older workers, like Gervais, who want
to remain in the workforce, on the job. "I needed more money," he says, "my kids are very
expensive; they're still at home. I had my children late in life. I couldn't stay at home doing
nothing."
In late 1999, Gervais opted to retire when a transfer in the firm he worked at
in Montreal required excessive overtime hours. When a subsequent six-month contract position
pared down his hours in 2000, he went to Midi-Quarante. With its help he found his current job,
where he works four days a week and uses Fridays to volunteer at a blood donor
clinic--something he had never considered until he came to Midi-Quarante.
"Every time you leave here [Midi-Quarante]," says Gervais, "you really feel
good about yourself. You hear so much about how companies nowadays only want young people. But
here you feel young again because you feel appreciated. You have a lot of talent, you have
personality, maybe you're not as fast as a 20-year-old, but you have other strengths."
--Deanna Rosolendrosolen@rmpublishing.com
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