Talkback radio surprised everybody by its unanimous positive reaction to the thinking behind the proposal of a gap year at age 50.
Rather than jump on it with criticism of being too socialist leaning, everybody from Steve Price to Ray Hadley and Ross Greenwood gave Wyatt high praise for fresh thinking; he received many lengthy on-air interviews. (It should be noted that most of them are 50+ themselves).
Here are excerpts from Wyatt’s speech, explaining his concept.
“As lifespans lengthen, the financial implications, both for senior Australian and for taxpayers in general, may dictate longer working lives. In communities closely engaged with their older residents, I believe more and more people will want to work in some capacity, into their seventies or beyond”.
“For all of these reasons, I personally believe we should consider a “seniors gap year”, made available for employees, in the lead up to the traditional retirement age”.
“So I would encourage anybody to seriously think about it, because if you want to keep the talent that you have in your organisation, then don't let it go to waste, because you have people with a cumulative corporate knowledge”.
“I see people who are given redundancies, and then 12 months later, that same department is hiring them back to fill in a void that they created in letting them go”.
“So we need to change our mindset and we need to think about the incredible living books and living knowledge that sits within every Australian over the age of 60”.
“As I mentioned earlier, the adage “Life begins at 40” was coined way back in 1932. Today in 2017, I suggest that 70 is the new 40 - and counting”.
