Harold holding one of the 400 birthday messages he received from colleagues.
“I was born at a young age,” he quips early in the conversation, eyes twinkling. “And I’ve been here 94 years now.” Harold’s life has spanned apprenticeships, firefighting, engineering, safety roles, and now retail. His story reads like a working history of 20th- and 21st-century Australia. “I’ve basically worked my whole life,” he says. “Even while I was in the Fire Brigade, like many firemen, I worked a second job. I don’t know if I was ever home — I was always working.”
These days, he works at the front register in a hardware store, where customers often queue just to talk to him. “It was like I had my own little club,” he laughs. “People leave my register laughing. I guess I just say things that keep people happy.”
“Sometimes faster isn’t better,” he says. “When people leave your register smiling, that’s what they remember."
He believes the rapport he has with customers and coworkers comes from experience — and time. “Younger staff tend to rush. I don’t rush. I talk to people. And I think people appreciate that.” His style isn’t just charming — it builds loyalty. “Sometimes faster isn’t better,” he says. “When people leave your register smiling, that’s what they remember.”
Harold during his engineering days.
Working by Choice — or Necessity?
So why is Harold still working? “I’ve never known anything else but work,” he says simply. “You work to support your family and your lifestyle — whether it’s modest or lavish. You just keep doing what’s interesting.”
He doesn’t see age as a barrier. In fact, when someone once told him they were too old to apply for a job — at age 70 — Harold just smiled. “I said, ‘I was 87 when I applied for this job!’ And I didn’t even think about age.” This attitude — seeing work as an extension of living, not something to be escaped from — has kept Harold physically and mentally active. “I’ve never really thought about age,” he says. “Sometimes people ask, ‘You’re still driving at 94?’ And I tell them, ‘Of course — I was driving before I was legally allowed to!’”
Challenges and Adaptation
Still, Harold acknowledges that ageing brings real limitations. “There are jobs I can’t do anymore. As you age, the list of jobs you can do gets shorter. But when a job became too hard, I moved to a lighter one. It still needs to be interesting, though.”
His current employer has shown rare flexibility. “They gave me a chair at the register,” he says proudly. “Nobody else sits, but they got me this nice raised chair. The girls I work with even made a sign: ‘Harold’s Chair.’”
That flexibility is crucial, especially as Harold now balances work with caring for his wife. “I’ve cut back from full-time to two or three days a week,” he says. “If I need time off, I just call. They’ve been very supportive.”
“Maybe we can’t do the hard physical work, but we’ve got knowledge. Experience. And AI can help fill in the gaps.”
Redesigning the Workplace for Longer Lives
Harold believes workplaces need to evolve — not just for older workers like him, but for everyone. “We need a more versatile workforce,” he says. “And that means looking at a wider range of people when recruiting.”
He sees promise in new technologies, but also loss. “We’ve lost a lot of manual skill,” he reflects. “I was an apprentice fitter and machinist. I built houses, laid bricks, fixed cars. Now, we have machines doing most of it.”
But that doesn’t mean older workers can’t contribute. “Maybe we can’t do the hard physical work,” he says, “but we’ve got knowledge. Experience. And AI can help fill in the gaps.”
Harold and his wife Margaret.
Advice to the Next Generations
For people in their 60s, 70s, or even 80sand 90s who are unsure about working again, Harold has a simple message: “Just apply for the job.”
He’s realistic about ageing — but optimistic about potential. “You might not be fast anymore. But you bring depth. If you want to work, you work. And if you don’t, that’s okay too. But don’t hold yourself back just because of age.”
He adds, “Ageism starts inside. If you think you’re too old, you won’t even try. But if you just focus on the job, not your age — you’d be surprised what you can do.”
“If you want the job, go for it. If you don’t, thank them and walk away. It’s up to you.”
What Harold Teaches Us
Harold Fryar’s story is more than a curiosity — it’s a quiet blueprint for how we might build workplaces that truly honour longevity, dignity, and care. His experiences remind us that listening — deeply and without assumptions — is essential if we are to design systems that work for more of us, for longer. In Harold’s reflections, we hear the wisdom of lived experience: the importance of flexibility, the often-overlooked value of relational intelligence, and the silent toll of internalised ageism.
Many older adults don’t apply for jobs not because they can’t do the work, but because they’ve absorbed the message that they’re no longer wanted. That’s a design problem — and one we can fix. Harold shows us that designing smarter doesn’t mean moving faster; it means choosing to prioritise well-being, adaptability, and the long arc of contribution over the short sprint of efficiency.
As he puts it, with the kind of quiet confidence earned over decades: “If you want the job, go for it. If you don’t, thank them and walk away. It’s up to you.” In that simple philosophy lies a powerful truth: work doesn’t have to end when the calendar says so. It can continue as long as there’s purpose, dignity, and space to contribute.
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