Young win pay rises nine times higher than old

Workers over 50 ‘being left behind’

OLDER workers are suffering dismal pay rises while those awarded to the youngest workers have gone up by nine times as much.

The gap between wage rises for young and older staff has widened significantly during the past five years, amid claims the over-50s are being left behind, official figures reveal.

Critics said employers were cynically taking advantage of older workers who stay with the same company for longer by failing to train and promote them or give them decent annual pay rises.

Last year, workers aged 18 to 24 received bumper 10.6 per cent pay rises, falling to 3.8 per cent for people aged 25 to 34 and to 2 per cent for workers aged 36 to 49. For workers aged 50 to 64, pay rises plunge to a meagre 1.2 per cent, official figures show – significantly below the UK average of 2.1 per cent.

The Office for National Statistics revealed in its latest Economic Review that the under-25s are five times as likely to have moved jobs in the past three months than workers over-50.

But while younger workers often receive greater pay rises because they move jobs more frequently, official data shows that the gap is widening.

In 2009, Britain’s youngest workers received pay rises three times greater than older workers, but this has now widened to nine times greater.

Experts said the growing gulf between the generations could signal a reluctance by employers to train and promote older mem- bers of staff.

Ros Altmann, a Whitehall adviser on older workers, said: ‘Younger people’s pay is rising faster than average and the rate of increase is accelerating.

‘It could be because younger people are the most likely to receive training, with employers keen to focus on the newer workers and spending far less on training older workers.

‘With the pace of change in technology and processes being so rapid nowadays, the need for ongoing training is more important than ever, so people do not fall behind in terms of pay and productivity.’

She also criticised the Government for subsidising training for under-25s, ‘so that employers find it much cheaper to train youngsters than older workers’.

She added: ‘The increase in pay for younger workers is great news and shows they are progressing well. On the other hand, those who are in their later years seem less likely to be treated so generously and have not been able to enjoy the same kind of pay growth as younger colleagues.’

Lisa Harris, at over-50s specialist firm Saga, said: ‘Many older workers have spent years climbing the career ladder and are more likely to value the job satisfaction and security of doing the job they know well over the pursuit of more money.

‘However, it’s important that employers properly value the contribution and commitment of older workers and ensure they are fairly paid for the job they do and are not taken advantage of.’

‘Cheaper to train youngsters’