However, the key role of older workers and importance of age diversity within a workforce does appear to have eluded some employers. Research by the Centre for Aging Better<\/a> points out that more than a third of workers aged between 50 and 70 years old feel that their age works against them when applying for a job.<\/p>\n There is no denying that the UK population is living longer and that increasing living expenses are driving many employees to delay retirement. In addition, the standard retirement age will increase to 68 between 2037 and 2039. So how effective is an older workforce for UK employers?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The approach of many employers to older workers is often with an eye on impending retirement. Why hire or invest in an individual who may not be with the company for many more years when there are younger, more innovative candidates available? However, there are several important benefits to employing older workers.<\/p>\n Older workers bring with them a bank of both work and life experience that younger workers do not. Often this experience is accompanied by a wider network of business contacts and industry know-how.<\/p>\n That wealth of experience also means that older workers generally find it easier to adapt to change, such as a new team, technology, or work pattern.<\/p>\n Older workers will generally remain in a job or with the same employer for longer than a younger worker. This may be because an older worker is further along their career path and\/or has realised their career goals or the fact that older workers experience a higher level of job satisfaction than their younger colleagues.<\/p>\n In addition, older workers are generally more loyal to their employer and have lower levels of work absenteeism than younger employees.<\/p>\n The experience and accumulated knowledge of older workers can be put to good use in the workplace in role model, mentor, and training positions. Whether officially or unofficially, older workers are in an ideal position to pass their own learning onto younger colleagues.<\/p>\n Research carried out by the OECD<\/a> (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) concludes that employing just 10% more workers aged over 50 years old can increase company productivity by 1.1%. The research states that the key reasons for this increase are lower job turnover and the greater experience and more developed skills of older workers.<\/p>\n An age diverse workforce, that is, a workforce that accepts employees of all ages with no preference for young or old, unites a wide range of approaches, experience, and skillsets. Learning becomes a two-way process as both younger and older workers share their knowledge.<\/p>\n Age diversity in the workplace can often instigate innovation as different thinking processes are brought together to view a problem or scenario together.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If UK employers are to embrace age diversity and in particular take advantage of the increasing number of older workers, what steps can they take to attract and retain employees in their fifties and older?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the same way that job adverts should be worded to reduce terms suggesting a preference for a particular gender, so too should they avoid wording that indicates a preference for a particular age group. Phrases, writing-style, and imagery should be age-neutral to attracts candidates of any age.<\/p>\n Job adverts should be placed across a range of websites and outlets to ensure visibility to candidates of all ages.<\/p>\n When CVs and applications are screened, details of age should be removed to ensure that age bias does not affect the hiring manager\u2019s decision. This works to the favour of all ages, whether young or more mature, and guards against age discrimination.<\/p>\n Research carried out by the Office of National Statistics concluded that working from home could persuade older workers over 50 to delay their retirement, compared to those who worked on-site. Older remote workers also reported a feeling of improved wellbeing and work-life balance.<\/p>\n According to research by Hubble<\/a>, younger workers are happier working in the office while older workers prefer the chance to work remotely. Age is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 and should be a key factor of any employer\u2019s approach to DEI. It may prove helpful to hold leadership workshops on managing an age diverse workforce, including the benefits of employing older workers.<\/p>\n Ensure older workers are aware of the company\u2019s age positive culture by including a diversity statement in job adverts, job descriptions, social media accounts, and the company\u2019s website.<\/p>\n Create age-diverse teams so that all workers \u2013 regardless of age \u2013 have the chance to contribute, drive innovation, and share information with their colleagues.<\/p>\n Different age groups prioritise different employment benefits. For older workers, key employment benefits include:<\/p>\n Advice around retirement and pension planning may also be appreciated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As research points to a workforce who are living longer, want or need to work longer, and who bring a wealth of experience and learning to the workplace, embracing an age-diverse culture which values older workers as well as young is undoubtedly the intelligent move for employers to make.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the current job market where workers increasingly consider resignation over remaining in a job or with a company that doesn\u2019t suit them, employers face …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employers","category-hiring","category-jobposting"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2406"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2416,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406\/revisions\/2416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The benefits of employing older workers<\/h2>\n
\n\u00a0<\/i> Wealth of work and life experience<\/h3>\n
\u00a0<\/i> Higher retention rate<\/h3>\n
\u00a0<\/i> Role models and trainers<\/h3>\n
\u00a0<\/i> Increase in company productivity<\/h3>\n
\u00a0<\/i> Age diversity<\/h3>\n
![\"Age](\"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/photo_2022-03-31_17-20-23.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHow to recruit and retain an older workforce<\/h2>\n
\n\u00a0<\/i> Age neutral job ads in the right place<\/h3>\n
\u00a0<\/i> Anonymous candidate screening<\/h3>\n
\u00a0<\/i> Offer flexible working<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/i> Promote an age positive company culture<\/h3>\n
\u00a0<\/i> Offer appropriate employment benefits<\/h3>\n
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Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n
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