‘THE BIGGEST BATTLE IS THE STEREOTYPES’

It’s terrifying to contemplate. Is this really me? On the wrong side of 50 and thanks to Covid, unexpectedly having to start all over again on the career front.

Just a few months ago, I was running a marketing services business I founded in 2011. No sign of a Covid-shaped cloud to blight my horizon back then.

As I now consider a future I hadn’t foreseen, with my eldest in fresher year at university and two other teenagers lined up to follow, my primary fear is: how can I guarantee my kids the future my wife and I promised them?

It might not be easy. Even pre-pandemic data showed that we 50plus folk were more likely to be long-term unemployed.

A UN report says 50 per cent of the world’s population hold ageist attitudes; the problem is described as an insidious scourge costing economies billions, leading to poorer health, shorter lifespans and social isolation. Nice to have something to look forward to then.

Strangely tight-lipped on the subject are UK plc.

Anyone noticed any major bluechips making inclusivity pledges about age-related diversity and equality of opportunity? Me neither.

I’m staring at my 50-plus knuckles turning ever whiter as I prepare to launch my own business this year.

My adversaries aren’t merely economic uncertainty and stiff competition – the fiercest battle will be against the stereotypes. According to the ageism research, older workers tend to be perceived as low competence and exhibit lower levels of performance. Wow!

Other findings from Australia state that if 5 per cent more 50-plus people were employed, there would be a positive impact of AU$48billion on their economy annually.

This gives me hope.