Last week when I attended the Analytics Institute Inspire event, I was sitting in the back row with a good view of the 120 attendees. I couldn't help noticing that that I was one of the oldest people in the room! There were just two other grey haired men who looked to be about my age. It's harder to tell with women, but I'm certain there were none there older than me. While I am not finished yet, it is clear to me that data analytics is a younger person's game - I suspect that this might also be reflected in other IT disciplines.
One of the reasons why there are few older peoples in rooms like above is that it appears that we (the over 55's) are at twice the risk of dying in workplace! According to Anne-Marie Walsh, writing in Tuesday's Irish Independent, "One in five employees is aged over 55 and faces twice the risk of dying in workplace"! Quoting an ESRI report, Walsh tells us that employees "between 55 and 64 are almost two times more likely to experience a fatality than the under-55s and it gets worse with age". She goes on to write that those over 65 are "three-and-a-half times more likely to experience a fatality than workers under 55". Sounds like the workplace is not a safe place for us oldies! In fairness, Walsh does point out that some professions, like agriculture, are not as safe as others.
The Central Statistics Office's data from 2016 shows labour force participation rates by age group. Just over 60% of men in the 60-64 age group (which I am about to join soon) are at work - this is down from a high of over 90% for the 35-44 age group. There's nothing that I can do about my age (except as my Dad says: "Be proud of it!"), but it is chastening to see below that I am very much in the right tail of the Labour Force Participation Rate chart!
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| Data Source: Women and Men in Ireland 2016 (CSO) |
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