Older workers need to keep up with technological advances to remain valuable in the workforce.

This was one piece of advice given by Bill Zuill, one of the directors of Bermuda Executive Services, to attendees at a special seminar held at the Bermuda College yesterday.

“It is really important to make sure that your skills are up to date,” Mr Zuill said. “Very few employers these days have much budget or time to train; more often that not they need someone who can come into the job and get started on it.

“You must be able to answer e-mails, you must be able to put together a word document, probably you are going to have to put together some kind of spreadsheet at some point, so you’re going to have to have at least a basic working knowledge of Excel.”

But keeping up with industry standards and certifications is also important, he said, as is continuing education, even if takes time and requires an initial investment.

“You need to be flexible, you have to be willing to learn new skills,” he added.

The Reinvent Yourself After 50 seminar, organised by charity Age Concern, focused on changes in the employment market for older workers.

The talk dealt with some of the misconceptions about this generation, including the notions that the highest levels of unemployment fall in this age group, that employers are less inclined to hire people in their 50s or that entrepreneurs are less likely to be over the age of 50.

“All of these are myths; none of them are true,” Mr Zuill, a former editor of The Royal Gazette, told the group of about 30.

Drawing on statistics from the 2015 Labour Force Survey, he showed that unemployment lies at 4 per cent for those between the ages of 45 and 54, and at 5 per cent for those aged 55 to 65, whereas unemployment for the under 25 age group lies at about 23 per cent.

“Overall, in Bermuda, unemployment is finally starting to improve and there are lots of other indicators as well that say the economy is beginning to grow again,” Mr Zuill said.

But he added: “Employers are still somewhat reluctant to take people on and very careful about who they hire.”

Mr Zuill also focused on some of the perceptions that abound about workers over the age of 50, including that they are inflexible and set in their ways, have low skills or are “digital immigrants” as opposed to “digital natives”, are lacking in energy and act “old”, are not likely to stay in jobs for long, or are unhealthy and more likely to fall ill.

He addressed and dispelled these notions, stating that the advantages of hiring older workers are manyfold and include their dedication, punctuality, and honesty. They are detail orientated, focused and attentive, good listeners and take pride in a job well done. Older workers also have good organisational and communication skills, are efficient, confident, mature, can set a good example, and may be willing to do a job for slightly lower pay because they have less expenses.

“Our generation is in fact intensely adaptable,” Mr Zuill said. “This generation, far from being inflexible and set in its ways, in fact has adapted not once to changing technology but probably two or three times and it’s done it fairly well.”

“The fact is you can do it and you know how to do it. Very often it is a little unfair for it to be suggested that somehow you can’t learn or can’t be taught how to do something different.

“There was a time, of course, when life expectancy was about 62, so 50 didn’t seem that far away from the end of life. That’s not the case anymore; people are living much, much longer, they’re living much, much healthier. Fifty really is the new 30.”

Mr Zuill also offered tips on how to write an effective CV and how to present yourself in an interview.

“In general, if you’re looking for work, the whole idea is to bring your A-game,” he said. “Essentially you want to be yourself, that’s really what it comes down to. But you want to be yourself on your best day, not on your worst day.”