Labour shortages: how a focus on older workers can help

In his recent Mais lecture on growth, Chancellor Rishi Sunak spoke about “an economy where people of all ages are supported to learn”. The focus on adult skills as one of three key pillars for improving productivity in the UK nods to the growing economic argument for employers to do more to support older workers – to better reflect changing demographics, evolving technology, and as a way to tackle labour shortages too.

We’re all getting older. We’re all more likely to spend longer in the workplace. Yet ageism is still rife in business.

The figures speak for themselves:

• Labour market statistics show that there are around three quarters of a million people over 50 who could be in work, but aren’t.
• According to research from 55Redefined, 39% of employers admit to being less likely to recruit people over the age of 50.
• And bringing it back to skills, only 35% said they are prepared to retrain staff over that age.

Yet the biggest reason this age group leaves the workforce? “Boredom,” says Lyndsey Simpson, 55Redefined’s Chief Executive.

“Our research also shows 92% of workers in their mid-50s and over are prepared to take a salary cut to learn a new skill,” she continues, challenging the myths that older workers are expensive to hire, and too “stuck in their ways”.

Too many are viewed with suspicion if they want to take a more junior role because they’re interested in learning digital skills, for example – even if that desire is accompanied by other driving factors, such as increased flexibility or better work-life balance, she adds.

She points to her own 67-year-old Chief Technology Officer to contradict another myth: that older generations can’t be digitally savvy.

“If you’re innovative at 25, you’re innovative at 55 – but you’ve also got a lot more experience,” adds Mary Bright, Head of Social Affairs and Age Special Adviser at the Pheonix Group.

So how can we break down the barriers?

There are challenges around current skills provision, says Bright. “Training needs to be available for people of all ages, in a way that’s appropriate,” she explains. “A 50-year-old doesn’t need a GCSE in Maths to retrain as a butcher, when they have years of work experience under their belt.”

Similarly, the words “graduate or equivalent” put many people off. And when apprenticeship data is divided into under 25s and over 25s, the widespread perception that they are the preserve of younger candidates is understandable.

But if government needs to do more, so do firms.

Bright refers to age as “the forgotten dynamic in D&I”. Simpson agrees, highlighting the lack of expertise in-house, even among D&I specialists, on the issue: “They don’t have the knowledge and they don’t feel comfortable talking to their own audience for fear of the Age Discrimination Act.”  

So until attitudes change, there will always be wasted talent within organisations.

But there are also simple, practical steps that firms can take:

Collecting and analysing age-related data can be an eye-opening starting point to show if you’re falling down on training, says Simpson. You can also use it to challenge your assumptions, such as older workers taking more days off sick (spoiler alert, they take a lot less than your employees in their 20s).

The importance of retraining is just one element that requires focus, continues Bright. Recruitment and retention are also key.

To attract older workers, firms need to address age bias on their websites and in job ads, whether in the use of images or in the way they use words like “enthusiastic”, “energetic” and “dynamic”, which research has shown can be perceived by some older generations as a “code” for targeting younger generations, and discourage them from applying.

“People talk about B&Q as being a role model for recruiting older workers and the reason they’ve been successful is because they said they wanted them,” says Bright. “You don’t have to target them specifically, but make people feel wanted.”

The principle of “flexibility for all” will also aid both recruitment and retention of older workers. Since the pandemic, firms are more open to considering applicants who might only want to work six months of the year, for example. “If you think about retail hiring for Christmas, hardly any companies use their alumni and returners, when there is an army of retired people who might be interested in coming back,” Simpson explains.

And when a significant number of over 50s leave the workplace because of the menopause or caring responsibilities, offering flexibility is an obvious solution. So too is listening to, and asking, staff about the support they need.

As D&I has risen up the corporate agenda, many businesses have accepted the idea that their workforce should be reflective of the communities they serve. It makes for a powerful business case. Now consider that the over 50s currently make up 30% of the labour market and 50% of consumer spending, and ask yourself this question: how does your company measure up against that?

Listen back to the CBI's podcast on how D&I can help solve labour shortages.