28.09.2018

Employers must act to attract and retain skilled older workers

Enabling people to be in fulfilling work for longer is a win-win for everyone. It helps employers retain skilled workers, it helps people stay in work for longer if they want to, and it helps the economy.

By 2025, there will be a million more people aged 50 and over in the workplace – but 300,000 fewer under the age of 30.

Employers must act if they want to attract and retain skilled older workersand stave off future labour and skills shortages.

The latest report from the Centre for Ageing Better, 'Becoming an age-friendly employer', sets out five steps for employers to create an age-positive culture and better support older workers:

Be flexible about flexible working

Employers should offer more and different kinds of flexibility, take the time to manage it well, and help people know their options.

Flexible working can help to balance caring responsibilities, manage a health condition or enable a phased transition to retirement. Crucially, not everyone knows the options available, and some people might assume only parents and carers have a Right to Request flexible working.

Improving flexible work means more engaged staff who feel positive about their jobs and want to stay.

Hire age-positively

Recruiters and employers must actively target candidates of all ages and minimise age bias in recruitment processes.

Leading employers seek both older and younger candidates and use various recruitment techniques. However, many older applicants struggle to find roles because of inadequate processes, age bias and a lack of engagement from employers and recruiters.

There are things you can do to minimise this, from posting recruitment adverts that use age-neutral language, to adopting ‘blind’ application processes and structured assessments.

Ensure everyone has the health support they need

It’s important to enable early and open conversations about health and offer early, sustained access to support for people managing health conditions.

Research shows that older workers are more likely to be managing more than one long-term health condition. Health issues are the main reason older workers leave work before they reach state pension age, often due to lack of support from employers.

Employees need to be supported to access the workplace adjustments that can enable them to stay in good, fulfilling work for as long as they want.

Encourage career development at all ages

People should be provided with opportunities for career development and future planning at any age.

For employers, delivering better career development and support to workers in mid-life can help strengthen the skills and knowledge of the whole workforce. It can help to identify future training or development needs, along with the skills and knowledge that workers need or want to learn.

And all employees value opportunities to discuss aims and aspirations for the future. Getting support demonstrates that their employer is committed to engaging positively with everyone, regardless of what age they might happen to be.

Create an age-positive culture

HR professionals and managers need to be equipped to promote an age-positive culture, and support interaction and networking among staff of all ages.

Workplaces should demonstrate age-friendly HR practice across the business. Talking about age in the workplace shouldn’t be a taboo, and discussions about future plans and ambitions at work are as relevant at 30 as they are at 60.

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