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Labour market status over-50s

ended 08. September 2022

At 09:30 this morning, the ONS is publishing a report entitled Economic labour market status of individuals aged 50 and over, trends over time: September 2022. Ahead of this, we'd like your views on the following:

  • How have the pandemic and shift to remote working impacted people in the employment market aged 50+?
  • Have the pandemic and increased remote working favoured people in this demographic (experience counts remotely) or worked against them (employers seeing them as less tech savvy)?
  • How do you expect over-50s to be hit by the coming recession? Are they more likely to lose their jobs first if companies make cutbacks?
  • Any other trends playing out relating to over-50s and the jobs market?

6 responses from the Newspage community

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Kieran Boyle
Managing Director at CKB Recruitment Ltd
We have found that working practices inspired by the pandemic have definitely improved the employment market for the over-50s. We have certainly noticed employers being keen to seek out more experienced candidates, with remote and hybrid working most definitely testing some employers' level of trust for younger candidates working from home. Our clients are identifying older talent as a safer option, with the preference for training on technology to work remotely being offered rather than training entry level candidates in the office, which also now costs a lot more to heat.
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Sam Alsop-Hall
Chief Strategy Officer at Clive Henry Group
Pandemic-induced working practices have improved the employment landscape for over 50s. Remote working and hybrid working have seen employers look to experience as a way to derisk their businesses and also to stabilise them ahead of the expected protracted recession. If the choice is between training an entry-level candidate remotely to do a job they’ve never done or retraining an experienced candidate to use tech that supports remote working, it’s obvious which one is a better investment of time and money and more likely to provide the employer with an increased ROI in the short term. The most interesting phenomenon we’ve seen is that remote/hybrid working now means people are able to increase the radius of their job search, which has opened up more opportunities especially in rural areas. Before it used to be the case people would look for a job within an hour's commute. Now people are happy to look up to two hours if they’re only in the office a couple days a week and even further afield if their job is 90% remote. These trends have all helped over-50s' chances in the job market as they are seen as a trusted pair of hands to manage themselves remotely within a traditional working pattern and working frameworks.
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Suzanne Noble
Co-Director at Startup School for Seniors
The over-50s have been hit hard by the pandemic and have yet to recover. What we see at Startup School for Seniors is many people who have been forced out of the workplace either because of ageism or because their employer felt they weren’t able to grasp technological changes quick enough. With one in five people over 50 now responsible for caring for an elderly parent or child, there is greater demand than ever for flexible working. We’ve yet to see employers embrace the skills and lived experience of people over 50 and, more importantly adjust their working environments to accommodate their needs.
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Cheney Hamilton
CEO at The Find Your Flex Group
Across our platform we have seen the 45+ audience demographic increase from 10% pre-pandemic to 30% post-pandemic. This swing occurred in parallel to the increase in automation and redundancies that we saw in 2020 from the many retailers and supermarkets who went online at peak pandemic and have yet to revert back. Anecdotally, many of these job seekers were looking for a better work life balance post pandemic. However, with the cost of living shooting ever upwards, many are wishing to return to full-time work to supplement private pensions or fixed state pensions, adding to the woes of the many mid and early career casualties of the inevitable redundancies that will follow in the wake of a recession. It's a shame really, it's times like this that businesses should be looking at more resilient models like 'Mutable' and make that move to outcome-based working. In war times, we get so creative as a nation, it's a shame that innovation doesn't come to the fore in recession times where the natural instinct is to contract.
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Graham Wells
Founder and Financial Coach at GroWiser Financial Coaching
The pandemic has triggered a new and exciting era of flexible working and opportunity for the over-50s. Business owners and employees in this age bracket are valuing time more, having being able to reflect on life during lockdown. Remote working preserves the energy and time lost to commuting, while allowing better interaction and balance with family and friends. Many over-50s are re-evaluating the relationship between money and time, with a renewed focus on aligning work with personal values. Much of the technical barriers have been overcome, as most peole are now used to video conferencing and online collaboration tools. For those with knowledge and experience built up over decades, the world has opened up. The life of a digital nomad is no longer just for the young, free and single. With some creativity, planning and confidence, the over-50s have more opportunity than ever before to combine meaningful work with travel, leisure and purpose.
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Debbie Denyer
Executive Coach, Facilitator & Neurodiversity Trainer at Coach the Difference Ltd
The pandemic and shift to remote working have increased the number of people aged 50+ seeking job search support from Careers Springboard, a charity I’m a Trustee for. Suddenly, they find themselves in a very different labour market, where their CV needs to get past an applicant tracking system and interviews are virtual. Many haven’t reviewed their CV or had an interview for years. Combined with this are feelings of shock, loss of identity, status and confidence. Unfortunately, ageism makes the search harder. Organisations are looking for candidates who are tech savvy and adaptable, helping them to quickly respond to the rapidly changing economic landscape. If over-50s succeed in securing a role it’s in a different landscape, with remote onboarding and hybrid working. Many are making the decision to leave the job market and retire early. More needs to be done to raise awareness of the issues and provide support to help over-50s remain in the labour market. Over-50s candidates need to be able to demonstrate that they bring with them experience of change and organisations need to recognise the value that brings.