How do we talk about ageing in the workplace?

From April to June 2022, the number of people aged 65 years and over in employment in the UK increased by a record 173,000 to 1.468 million. There have never been this many people over 65 in the workplace, and because of this, the conversation about ageism and long-held negative biases related to being over 50 is hotter than ever. Yet, many professionals feel that ageism against older workers is consistently left out of the DEI conversation.  

There is no doubt that an older workforce comes with enormous benefits – decades more experience and often legacy knowledge. However, The Unretirement Uprising – 55/Redefined’s 2022 Ageism Report – threw up some worrying statistics of what the workplace is really like for those over 55.   

• 65% believe that their age will work against them in applying for a new role, and this jumps to 70% for respondents in Yorkshire & the Humber, who feel ageism at work more acutely than other regions of the UK 

• 30% of those that have retired felt forced to do so 

• 82% have not been contacted by a recruiter in the last 12 months despite the biggest shortfall in talent on record and a recruitment crisis (over 1.2m vacancies between July-September ’22) 

I spoke to Lyndsey Simpson, founder of 55/Redefined Group – the UK’s champion for over-50s. Lyndsey’s work is all about flying the flag for those who may be getting older but have no intention of slowing down, and she shared some excellent insights into how companies can do better when talking about age, and with that, ageism.  

Lyndsey, what does the workplace currently look like for people over 50, and what has changed? 

 It’s one of the most overtly discriminated against characteristics. Even just the fact that it’s acceptable to ask somebody in their fifties when they’re retiring. It might not be for another 20 years! We need to make those comments as socially unacceptable as asking a woman in her thirties when she’s planning on having children. 

 However, we are finding that the public psyche around the conversation of age has picked up a massive pace in the last six to 12 months, and there have been a number of call-outs on ageism in the media. Actresses at the Oscars, for example, were standing up and saying, “don't tell me I'm past it. I'm a midlife woman, I've still got it!”  Beauty brands are less about anti-ageing and more about positive ageing now.  

 Certainly, what we're seeing is that the world has woken up to the fact that many workers will be aged over 50 in the next few years. Yet most companies haven't changed or adapted their view of talent or their way of working to a company that attracts, hires and retains workers over 50.  

 There are quite a few large corporations that are in the foothills –making progress by understanding their data around older workforces, putting together action plans and making strides. However, I would say they’re not even halfway up the mountain,  let alone at the top of it. 

 Those companies that are making strides… What are they doing, and what’s working? 

 Insight and education are a massive part of it.  These companies are delivering insight training sessions around age to everyone in their organisation. They’re asking questions about life expectancy and attitudes of people now in their 50s, 60s and 70s. These discoveries are not just for their own workforce, but for their customers too, because of course, customers age at the same rate. And they’re uncovering lots of learning needs within organisations and in turn are able to create programmes to drive out stereotypes and be consciously age inclusive: the language that we use, the images that we use on our websites, our day-to-day conversations.  

Secondly it is about driving new age-inclusive leadership skills. This is the first time ever in history when you'll have leaders that are managing people from five different generations. Companies need to think about how they bring them together, how to align different communication styles. How to motivate them and talk to them requires training, so that's often one of the starting points.   

The other place to begin is with data. There's no legal requirement to report age data yet, but as with gender pay gap reporting – which has now become mandatory – it is a good place to start. Data analysis and data reporting internally within organisations to help them understand their workforce through the eyes of an over-50s employee is the first step. That generally will then throw up initial 12-month actions they need to fix around attraction, engagement, retention or retraining. 

If someone is over 50, reading this and thinking, “How do I get these changes made in my workplace?”, what advice do you have? 

Everybody has got a bit scared about having open and honest conversations. After the introduction of the Equality Act in 2010, some employers are afraid to have a retirement conversation through fear of being in breach of that legislation. However, if someone in the company decides they want something different, perhaps to reduce their hours, or retrain for a new role, there's then no mechanism to have that conversation. So everybody just dances around handbags for a few years rather than finding a solution that can work for both. Then what happens is that the individual leaves. So, the best advice would be for everyone to start having some open and honest conversations within the teams and the roles that they operate in, and not to be afraid to call out when something is said that they find offensive.   

From then, if they are looking for work, there are other things that they can also do to help themselves. The predominant channel for recruiters – whether they're external or in a company – to find people is through LinkedIn. Yet only 16% of over-50s are on LinkedIn, and of that it becomes very regionally dispersed. In Wales, it's less than 10%. So often people who aren’t in work, and are struggling to get back to work, aren’t present on the channels where people are looking for them. If they're not on the job boards, if they're not on the channels that are targeting them and they're not on LinkedIn, then companies aren't going to find them either. So, stepping both ways is important. For individuals to be able to stand up and actually share what would enable them to work an extra five to ten years longer. And if they're not in work and want to come back, they need to make themselves more visible to recruiters. 

Finally, what would be your top tips for employers to start talking about an ageing workforce?  

• “In God we trust…everyone else must bring data!”. Get the data about your 50+ workforce – do an age audit! 

• Examine your business (candidate or customer) through the eyes of an over-50s person. Look at your website, advert imagery, careers page imagery, job descriptions, application processes… 

• Become accredited as an Age Inclusive Employer and train teams on Conscious Age Inclusion

• Rethink how you pivot your Talent Attraction & Retention strategy towards over-50s 

• Remove “early careers” name and assumptions – open apprentice/grad schemes to all ages 

• Stop the focus on hiring on previous experience and technical fit and focus in on soft skills, behaviour, motivation, and cultural fit criterion 

For more information about 55/Redefined: 
work-redefined.co  - for employers 
jobs-redefined.co – for hirers and actively seeking candidates aged 50+ 
life-redefined.co – for anyone/everyone over 50 keen for inspiration, insight and joy in this stage of life