It's an axiom that you have to catch your workforce young.. Young workers bring energy, enthusiasm and a fresh perspective. And, of course, they also come at a lower cost than experienced workers. No wonder, companies everywhere are getting younger.

But youth is not an unmixed blessing. Many want to shift jobs fast and occupy the corner office the next year itself. Some hop jobs because their friends look down upon them if they 'stay' in a job for more than a year. The cost of the churn and the repeated investments in training and retraining the young and distracted workforce is high and difficult to handle.

Some industries are beginning to sense that it does not always pay to have a young workforce. Insurance, for instance.

A top official of an insurance company said the company targets those in the 30-35 age bracket for its agency business.

“Youngsters are not very keen to take up agency business in the first place; even if they do, they quit within three months or as soon as a better offer comes their way. Our efforts at training such youngsters, therefore, goes waste,” said G. Srinivasan, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of New India Assurance Company.

He said the company targets those beyond 30 years of age as most in their mid-30s are fairly settled in life and take this avocation more seriously. Srinivasan did not fail to add that retention was better amongst older people.

“Retired government servants and those that have served in the financial services sector can actually be active for 10–15 years after retirement. And these people take up agency business more seriously. Our agent force includes LIC agents, mutual fund advisors - many offer a gamut of services,” he added.

The company plans to add 10,000 agents to its existing 70,000 this fiscal. “We have already added 7,000, the rest will happen in the next couple of months,” he said.

“There are not many women, it is less than 20 per cent of the total,” he said in reply to a question.

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