This month, Jemma and Lucy attended a roundtable discussion hosted by CXK to discuss the importance of supporting older workers and the free services which CXK and the National Careers Service offer, including information, advice and guidance to help businesses to retain, retrain and recruit older workers.
CXK is a charity that delivers a range of services to empower young people and adults across the South-East to build the skills and confidence they need to move into education, employment or training.
We learnt a lot on the day and were pleased to be able to add to our knowledge base.
Did You Know
The average person aged 25-34 years will only stay in a job for 2.8 years and the average person aged 35-44 years will stay in a job for 4.9 years.
But the average person aged 55-64 will stay in the same job for 10.1 years. This is more than three times that of a younger worker.
The “Older Employee” is considered to be more experienced, more dedicated, more motivated and more eager to learn than those of the younger generation.
Older employees value having a job that gives them meaningful work and social interaction. With most of their financial commitments behind them, older employees choose to work because they want to, not just because they have to.
However, evidence shows that a high proportion of people aged 50 and over who left the workforce in the last eight years have done so due to factors that are likely to have pushed them out against their will. The main reasons for this are health, caring responsibilities, lack of skills and redundancy.
Twenty per cent of older employees are support-carers for their elderly parents or disabled children. However, it is felt that support from employers is inadequate and needs significant improvement.
It should also be noted that the Law protects carers from direct discrimination or harassment if they are treated less favourably because of their caring responsibilities. This is because carers are counted as being ‘associated’ with someone who is protected by the Law because of their age or disability under the Equality Act 2010.
By the time a person reaches age 55-59 years, nearly 40% of those in work want to reduce their working hours compared to just 7.7% who wish to increase them.
And a lack of skills can also be a hindrance to a person working longer.
With fewer young people than ever deciding to venture into the labour market, the older generation will represent an increasingly significant proportion of the workforce in the near future.
Employers, therefore, will need to rely on the skills and experience of older workers if they want to remain competitive, increase productivity and growth, and avoid skills shortages in the future.
How are you supporting the older workforce?
Older workers are fundamental to the future of successful businesses.
Businesses can benefit from retaining, retraining and recruiting older workers through: –
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Increased staff loyalty and retention;
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Improved productivity;
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A workforce which reflects their demographics in terms of customer satisfaction;
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A wide range of skills, ideas, experiences and ways of thinking which come with the older generation;
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Reduced recruitment costs – the average cost of recruiting and training a new member of staff is estimated to be at least £4,000.
CXK and the National Careers Service offer a FREE service which supports employers and their staff in order to retain, retrain and recruit the older generation.
For more information, visit www.cxk.org