We need the older workers

The UK is running out of workers. According to the CIPD current employer plans suggest that we’ll need to fill 13.5 million job vacancies in the next ten years, but only 7 million young people will leave school and college. With fewer people entering the labour pool, it's critical for employers to be able to embrace talent and fill roles.

Andy Briggs, CEO of Aviva Life and the UK Government’s business champion for older workers has called for a million more older people to be in work by 2022. To address the widening skills gap, tackle age bias in work and enable people to stay in work longer, Mr Briggs is urging every UK employer to increase the number of workers aged 50-69 in the UK over the next five years.

Employers in the UK are no longer able to retire someone just because of their age but many are sticking with a traditional approach to the older workforce. Half of the people in a recent CIPD survey over the age of 55 said they would be working beyond 65. But only one in four employees think that their employer is meeting the employment needs of the over 65s. 

The CIPD is recommending five essential components that should form an organisation’s strategy to address the ageing workforce challenges:

1 Ensuring they have inclusive recruitment practices

2 Improving the capability of line managers to manage an age-diverse workforce

3 Investing in training and development that is based on potential, not age

4 Supporting employee health and well-being across demographics

5 Embracing the talent attraction and retention benefits of flexible working.

It seems that flexible/smart working is an ideal arrangement for this group of people who have talent and experience to give to their employers but no longer wish to be in fixed, full-time working arrangements.