Older workers are in need of a jobs revolution
THE UK’s recent strong performance has seen unemployment falling sharply as the economy created jobs far faster than expected.
this is certainly encouraging but, looking to the future, there are worrying signs that the impact of important demographic trends on the labour market are not being taken sufficiently seriously.
Since the financial crisis, the focus of employment policy has understandably been firmly fixed on youth unemployment and the lasting social scars it can cause. However, it is vital not to overlook older workers.
Commentators may have been lulled into a false sense of security by the fact that there are record numbers of over-50s now working.
this is partly due to specific factors – such as the rise in women’s state pension age and the rapid ageing of the population. But there needs to be a sharper focus on later-life employment.
older workers who lose their jobs, often find it harder to secure a new job and the longer older workers are unemployed, the less likely they are to be able to return. they lose confidence which further damages their future employability and they often feel forced to retire.
Leaving older workers on the scrapheap has long-term consequences for business and growth. By 2020 a third of the working-age population will be over 50.
If employers are reluctant to hire them, there could be significant costs in benefit payments and lost spending power. this in turn poses significant dangers for the economy.
over the next ten years, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development estimates that UK employers will need to fill around 13.5m vacancies while only 7m young people will leave education.
In the same period, the number of over-50s is forecast to rise by 3.7m, while those aged 16-49 will fall by 700,000. Immigration cannot fill the gap, so employers will increasingly need to recruit and retain mature workers.
Some employers are starting to recognise the upsides of hiring over-50s. Perhaps the best-known example is retailer B& Q, which was among the first to target older workers, but others including Morrisons, national Express and At Brown Coaches have jumped on the bandwagon.
It is sometimes argued that older workers staying in jobs will prevent younger workers from entering employment.
this is a fundamental misunderstanding. there is no evidence that older workers take jobs from younger people. Indeed, increasing employment of older workers should eventually lead to more opportunities for the young.
If millions of older people are able to stay in work, they will be significantly richer, and less of a burden on the state.
that means there will be more spending power in the economy and less of a drag on the public purse, which means more jobs and prosperity for younger generations.
the idea that older workers ‘take’ jobs from the young is based on the fallacy that there is a fixed number of jobs in the economy – but if older employees help create growth, then other things being equal there should be more jobs for all age groups.
this is about far more than just the economy, though. A social revolution is underway. Redefining retirement – offering the opportunity for a whole new phase of life.
A period of cutting down gradually, before finally leaving the labour market altogether, can revolutionise the world of work for older generations, just as we have revolutionised work for women.
FLEXIBLE and parttime working, later life apprenticeship schemes or retraining and even taking time out for a break before returning part-time can enhance older people’s lives financially as well as improving their physical and mental health.
People are simply not ‘old’ in their sixties any more. they have experience, energy and skills that we should not allow to go to waste.
nobody should be forced to work on if they can’t or don’t want to, but nor should anyone be forced out of the workplace just because they have celebrated their sixtyfifth birthday.
It is in all our interests to encourage a revolution in the way we think about retirement.