The number of people aged between 50 and 64 who have jobs has gone up by 16% in the last 30 years. It’s gone from 56% to 72%
A study suggests that there are more people over 50 in work than ever before.
The research shows that employment levels for this age group are growing faster than any other. Rest Less, a company that gives advice to older people, says there are now 10.9 million people aged 50 or over in work.
This makes up a third of the UK workforce. The number of people aged between 50 and 64 who have jobs has gone up by 16% in the last 30 years. It’s gone from 56% to 72%.
This shows how important this age group is to the workforce, says Rest Less. Rest Less looked at official data and found that the number of workers aged 50 or over is almost the same as the number of workers aged 35 to 49. This is the first time this has happened in history.
Stuart Lewis, chief executive of Rest Less, said: “Falling fertility rates, medical advancements and a whole host of other societal changes that have taken place across many decades have resulted in a seismic shift to the demographic make-up of a typical workplace today.In organisations around the country, it is no longer uncommon to have five generations under one roof – a trend that is only likely to accelerate with older workers as the fastest growing demographic in the workforce.”
” Smart, forward looking organisations are starting to take advantage of the many benefits of age diversity and harness the diversity of thought, different approaches to problem solving and the marriage of experience and new perspectives that can be achieved through the huge value of multi-generational teams.”
“It’s becoming commonplace for age-inclusive organisations to offer robust policies on menopause, support for individuals who need to care for their own parents (and not just their children), flexible working options for all employees, equal access to training opportunities alongside many other age inclusive initiatives.”
Dr Emily Andrews, of the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “It is encouraging to see the soaring numbers of 50-plus workers increasingly contributing to our economy and helping meet labour and skills needs over the past 30 years. This means more employers benefiting from the skills and experience of older workers, more businesses increasing their innovation and productivity through a multi-generational workforce.”
“But we should not allow these history-making figures to lull us into a false sense of complacency. The data also tells us that there are over 200,000 more older workers out of the labour market since before the pandemic. We know that hundreds of thousands of people aged 50 and over would love to add to these employment figures if there were the jobs out there with the right support.”
