Employees who care for aging parents cost a lot
As the workforce ages, so do their parents and workers who are absent from their jobs to care for their parents cost their employers a lot of money.
Some statistics say that it’s a wide spread issue:
According to Barbara McVicker, author of the new book “Stuck in the Middle…shared stories and tips for caregiving your elderly parents”, 50-70 million Americans provide caregiver support to their elderly loved ones
And other stats from the Council on Aging in Silicon Valley include:
- 70% of those who are working TAKE TIME OFF to provide this care
- 15% of them QUIT THEIR JOBS when full-time care is needed for their elderly loved ones
- California businesses (and in all states) lose BILLIONS of dollars and lost productivity EACH YEAR due to their employees handling elder care of their loved ones
I don’t know that the answer is since both sides, employee and employer, each have responsibilities, but I do think we’re going to have to continue to find ways to support those workers with aging parents and caregiver duties because they will be away from work on more than a few occasions.
You know, this was never an issue when there were things like loyalty and “taking care” of your employees. You know back when employess were viewed as assets, and not “cost centers”
There is a cost of doing business, and that cost includes dealing with humans and their frailties. It is PART of business, not something that needs to be fixed so the CEO can get yet another yacht.