This year, the gap between job vacancies and people looking for work is larger than ever before. It’s a combination of the after-effects of the pandemic, migration from the country, and over-50s leaving the workforce in unprecedented numbers.

At the same time, we face acute productivity challenges, with employers across the country struggling to find skilled workers.

In my role advising our Group CEO, who is the Government’s Business Champion for Older Workers, I can see a golden opportunity to bridge this gap. By encouraging more experienced people back into the workforce and promoting multigenerational workplaces we can achieve the classic win: win. The UK economy will benefit from greater labour supply, businesses can enjoy greater productivity and individuals can enjoy the wider wealth and wellbeing benefits that good work offers.

Demographic shift

Across the UK, 30 per cent of the workforce is over 50 years of age. This means different things depending on the organisation. For example, a bank I was speaking to recently have realised some specialist skills are concentrated in a dwindling number of people, this creates a risk for them and they are focussed on retention. Regardless of the business, the need to adapt to our changing demographic is a fact.

In the UK more people turn 50 each year than leave school, as more of us live longer and the UK birth rate falls, this demographic shift will deepen.

Despite an estimated 1 million people aged 50 and above who would like to work, typical recruitment practices haven’t moved with the times. There are exceptions. ‘Do-It-Yourself’ chain B&Q found that hiring more experienced workers did wonders for customer relations – people could relate to them and benefit from their knowledge. McDonalds restaurants found that customer satisfaction rates improved with a multigenerational workforce.

We argue that these examples should be more widely understood and shared. If you go fishing, you want to go where you’ll find the most fish. In the war for talent you want to be in the biggest pool, with all ages, genders and races.

Age bias

As part of making this change age bias must be addressed. In recruitment for example, by changing the language we use to be age inclusive, rather than using default ‘code words’ for youth. As a company we know that simply using adjectives such as ‘problem solving’ vs ‘innovative’ means we are more likely to attract candidates from a wider pool.

Implementing employment policies that support the whole of society to work more productively is a growing area of focus. Things like offering flexible working, having a menopause policy and taking account of employees’ caring responsibilities makes a real difference to both the recruitment and retention of talent.

Through building a multigenerational workforce, companies discover remarkable advantages for colleagues, for customers, and for the bottom line.

Opportunities and threats

The UK government is increasingly aware of the issues. In the past year, the Treasury has looked at the impact of the c. 700,000 workers aged 50-plus who have left the workforce since the start of the pandemic.

Across government there has been a focus on the wider benefits  that remaining economically active adds to people’s personal wellbeing - and the threat that without  changes future generations of retirees may struggle to meet their financial needs.

At Phoenix Group we’re convinced that adopting a multigenerational workforce policy presents huge opportunities for employers and employees. By being ‘age friendly’ and celebrating a multi-generational workplace we can all win. 

Our resources

Labour Market Overview

Changing trends and recent shortages in the labour market, UK: 2016 to 2021

Economic labour market status of individuals aged 50 and over, trends over time: September 2022

Population and household estimates, England and Wales

A New Vision for Older Workers: Retain, Retrain, Recruit

What’s behind McDonald’s effort to bring on more older workers?

B&Q and aging workers

Self-employed workforce sheds nearly 700,000 people in two years

£122 million employment boost for people receiving mental health support