PRESS RELEASE

Drake's Prime50 Puts the Mature Workforce Back to Work

TORONTO–October 3, 2008. In a happy turn of events for both employers and older job seekers Drake is breaking new ground by expanding a service focused specifically at matching people over 50 with part-time or interim projects that may lead to full-time, permanent jobs. The service, Prime50, unleashes an often overlooked pool of prime Canadian talent.

Drake is pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Harvey as Director New Business Development for Prime50. Harvey brings an impressive—and unusual—mix of senior HR and international business development experience to Prime50. Employers will appreciate his insights on how the mature worker can be used to fill vexing talent gaps.

Why Now?
Why is Drake pushing forward with the Prime50 initiative?

"We've found that many organizations are suffering from a shortage of seasoned talent," explains Harvey, "and often what they really want is someone who is knowledgeable and skilled enough to step right up and seize the reins on an interim basis—the over 50 talent pool is ideal for this."

The over 50 talent pool is a huge resource for Canada, but it is not well-served by existing staffing services.

"People in this particular talent pool have different objectives and capabilities from younger workers," says Harvey. "We specialize in this area and help organizations identify where this talent pool can help them and then find the right talent for that need."

People over 50 offer significant advantages to organizations. Often they are interested in part-time or interim projects, which suit the organization's need for flexibility. Also, they may not demand unduly high compensation levels, which suits the organization's need to control costs. Finally, they have the know-how to step in and do the job right away, which meets the organization's need for speed.

A Good Deal for Older Job Seekers
Prime50 caters to everyone from the retired senior executive keen to step in as an interim CFO to the experienced aeronautical engineer seeking a challenge to the mature worker simply wanting to earn a little supplementary income.

For over 50's who are too full of energy to stop work, just want to stay connected, or have seen their nest egg shrink due to the market's troubles, continuing employment via Prime50 is a wonderful opportunity.

More about Mike Harvey
Mike Harvey, himself over 50, has a distinguished career with senior positions both in HR and in business development. This background leaves him ideally positioned to lead Prime50 to become a significant player in Canada's talent marketplace.

Mike has HR experience in a wide range of industries including Firestone, Reed Paper, Coles Bookstores and Wilson's Stationers where he was the HR VP when it was acquired by Grand & Toy. After that Mike founded an HR outsourcing business for small companies in the Greater Toronto area before making the career leap to VP of Business Development for Feher Guard.

Mike is attracted by the challenge and business opportunity of Prime50, but is also excited about providing this unique service to many 50-plus individuals. Prime50 is a timely idea addressing demographic shifts, the war for talent, and the desire for mature workers to stay engaged in productive work.

Getting in Touch

1. Job seekers can go to www.Prime50.com to learn more and register with Prime50.
2. Employers interested in drawing on this underutilized talent pool should contact Mark Coetzee at 416-216-1112 mcoetzee@na.drakeintl.com.

Since Drake International was founded in Winnipeg in 1951, we have assisted thousands of North American businesses in solving their staffing and HR problems.
We customize our unique suite of innovative Staffing and HR Consulting solutions for your organization. These solutions generate Exponential Impact by improving recruiting, performance, productivity, retention, organizational culture, leadership and customer satisfaction.
Call us today at 1 800 GO DRAKE and allow one of our Drake professionals to collaborate with you to build and implement a customized solutions that will focus on results, not just the service.