Action on employment
It’s hard to read a business publication currently without coming across an article discussing one of the key issues faced by the UK (and most, if not all, developed countries): how best to attract and retain the skills and life experiences of older people.
And with good reason. The UK faces a huge skills shortage, exacerbated by the large number of “boomers” either in or entering their 60s, and not helped by the “great retirement” that appears to have occurred during lockdown. The crisis in our care system has led to a large swathe of the working population giving up work to care for a family member.
Many organisations are (sometimes belatedly) waking up to the fact that older workers can play a key role – not least by applying their people skills and learned experiences, making use of their contacts or by mentoring younger colleagues. They jettison this irreplaceable resource at their peril.
At the same time, the cost-of-living crisis is compelling many of this cohort to attempt to “unretire”. Equally, many older people simply love what they do, and the people they work with and for, and feel no need to retire.
It would not seem to be an insurmountable problem to bring employers and potential employees together, and supply would readily meet demand.
Except that… all too often there are barriers to older people remaining in or returning to work – their health, mobility and other commitments for instance – and adapting working practices and the workplace itself can prove essential to enable employers to tap into this resource. Less frequently, but still an issue to be resolved, can be ageist attitudes.
Initiatives such as the Midlife Review can play a big part in squaring the circle. So too can flexible working, or allowing employees to change to a less demanding role. In fact, there are myriad approaches which could help. We want this Action Area to look at this issue in the round and explore ways in which the needs of both older people and employers can best be resolved, and share those ideas and strategies with policy makers, employers and older people themselves.
Get involved
To contribute towards the AAA’s Employment policy plans or to see your blogs, papers, research or news on these pages, email: info@theageactionalliance.org
More reading
If you would like to read more about the Midlife Review, Steve Butler, CEO of Punter Southall Aspire and EngAgeNet director Tony Watts OBE have written a detailed guide to the review and its potential impact on work, wealth and wellbeing, available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Midlife-Review-guide-wealth-wellbeing/dp/1781334609
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Latest News
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“Unretirement Entrepreneur of the Year” is watching everyone’s backs…
The very first “Unretirement Entrepreneur of the Year” has been crowned at the Great British Entrepreneur Award’s gala ceremony at the London Grosvenor Hilton Hotel.
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Almost one million more workers aged 65 and above since the millennium, new analysis reveals
Ageing Better’s new analysis of the latest ONS Labour Market data reveals that the employment rate of those aged 65 and above has doubled over the past quarter of a century.
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More than a million over 50-year-olds remain “involuntarily workless”
ILC UK research shows that one in ten people aged between 50 and state pension age don’t work but want to.
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“Platinum Pound” report finds UK economy could unlock billions by making the workplace more inclusive
The Platinum Pound, a new report by cross-party think-tank Demos, supported by Anchor, has revealed the UK economy could unlock £6.6bn a year by making staying in work more inclusive. The report reveals an additional £1.2bn a year could be unlocked by returning to pre-pandemic rates of later life volunteers.
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New support “toolkit” for employers launched in bid to end age bias in recruitment
The Centre for Ageing Better has launched new support to help employers remove age bias from their recruitment processes to maximise the full potential benefits of older workers for organisations.
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Investment in preventative health key to longer working lives
Across the G7 the UK leads the way in long working lives: But the wealthy world faces a long-term workforce crisis due to demographic change, argues the International Longevity Centre, and we still need to work another three to seven years to become a world leader and help our economy adapt to longer lives.
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High inflation means that the “Great Unretirement” may prove costly for some older workers
New Age UK research shows how the cost of living crisis is upending some people’s retirement plans and their prospects of a comfortable standard of living in the years to come.
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ILC recruiting for a Head of Programmes
The International Longevity Centre wants to recruit a Head of Programmes with excellent project management skills, strong analytical ability and good written skills. The successful candidate will have a passion for, and understanding of, public policy, as well as a desire to influence change.
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100 employers sign up to “Age friendly” pledge
More than 100 leading organisations and businesses, as well as many smaller ones, have joined the Ageing Better Age-friendly Employer Pledge scheme within its first 100 days.
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Would being “a senior helping other seniors” get YOU back to work?
The Chancellor is hoping to tempt over 50s back to work. He’d do well to understand what conditions this group of workers require, says Sally Wilse of AAA members Seniors Helping Seniors.
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Charities and housing providers respond to Budget
This was, we were told, a Budget aimed at achieving growth and getting older people back to work. Will it succeed? And, as well as what was IN the Budget, what was left out? The votes are in from AAA members Age UK, Independent Age, Anchor Housing and The Centre for Ageing Better.
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Is work no longer working?
New research by the International Longevity Centre, the UK’s leading think tank on the impact of longevity on society, highlights deep-seated inequalities in the UK’s changing labour market and the critical condition of the current economy.
Latest blogs & comments
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A dozen benefits of older workers to employers
With labour and skills shortages across employment sectors and to mark Older Workers Week at the end of November, Chris Walsh, Chief Executive of Wise Age sets out 12 of the great reasons to employ older people.
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Whither an Age Friendly London?
After many years work, effort, and lobbying, London finally has an Age Friendly Action Plan. But, asks Tim Whitaker, a Trustee of Wise Age, will the plan make a difference and lead to concrete improvements in the lives of older people?
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Want to carry on working in good health? Try thinking flexibly!
When do you plan to retire? Whatever age it is, you’ll want to reach that point in good health in order to enjoy your retirement to the full. Changing the way you work could just help you do that… By Tony Watts OBE
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Twenty top tips for working from home
AAA members Design Age Institute has been collaborating with researchers from Northumbria University and Loughborough University to explore the principals of working well from home in a new guide on designing better workstations.
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Older Londoners need more help with finding jobs – and less discrimination
Many of the capital’s economically inactive people aged 50 and above face disadvantages, including ageism, when seeking employment. Tim Whitaker, Trustee of WiseAge, says we need a new agenda for looking at London’s older workers – one which addresses the key problems faced by many of them. The government has been prompting older people back…
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Enough is enough: A call for change in the Work Capability Assessment
“The WCA doesn’t need to be so punitive, complex or soul-destroying for sick and disabled people when it comes to benefits and work in the UK,” writes Lee Healey, Founder of Age Action Alliance members IncomeMax CIC, who has shared his response to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to the consultation on the Work Capability Assessment (WCA).
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Guide sets out the business case for employing older workers
As part of an Employers Guide to “Best Practice in Age and Employment”, from the London-based later life employment consultancy Wise Age, the authors set out the benefits of harnessing the talents of older people within their workforce.
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London must embrace age-friendly employment practices… starting at the top
Sadiq Khan will be producing a response to the London Assembly’s recommendations on the issue, says Tim Whitaker, vice chair of WiseAge, and there might be grounds for optimism.
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Why ignoring the over 50s will cost your business dearly
The over 50s are becoming a powerful workforce demographic that businesses would be foolish to ignore. By Steve Butler, CEO, Punter Southall Aspire
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Older workers: we need less talk and more action
The need to retain and recruit the talents of older workers has never received so much coverage. But we need more than headlines and promises to fix the systemic issues preventing this from happening, argues Tim Whitaker of Wise Age.
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If the Government really wants to get older people back to work, here’s what they have to do…
Regional strategies, an improved understanding of the needs and circumstances of older workers and an end to the pernicious effects of ageism… just some of what is needed if older people are to play a full part in the workplace. By AAA members Wise Age.
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“Older workers hold key” for UK firms experiencing worker shortages
Kim Chaplain says older workers can play a key role in growing the economy and filling in labour and skills shortages… but too many are leaving the workforce when they still have so much to offer.