A new report has found that flexible working is the key to encouraging those aged 50-65 who left the labour market during the Covid 19 pandemic to return to the world of work.
Flexible Working
As we highlighted in a recent article, half a million workers permanently left the labour market during the Covid-19 pandemic, and this has greatly exacerbated the current labour shoratges. The majority of those who left the labour market (386,096) were older workers aged 50-65. A new report indicates that some of these may be willing to return, but that key to that is the availability of flexible working.
Lord Mervyn King, the former governor of the Bank of England, stated recently that: "A legacy of Covid is that around half a million people have dropped out of the labour force. Their return would ease inflationary pressures and boost output. But there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."
Given this, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) asked 43,250 respondents aged 50-65 what it would take to get them to return to the labour market. 58% of the respondents stated that they would consider a return to work (86% amongst those aged 50-54), with flexible working the key factor for the largest proportion of those respondents. In order, the responses were as follows:-
- Flexible working hours - 32%
- Pay - 23%
- Option to work from home - 12%
The younger the respondent, the more likely they were to consider a return to the labour market, and vice versa, with just 44% of 60-65 year olds stating that they would consider a return to work.
Project
With 1 in 3 of those born today projected to live to 100, going forward people are not only going to have to continue working longer in terms of economic viability (i.e. in terms funding an aging population), but they are also likely to want to continue to do so as they remain in good health for longer
A Government survey published back on the 15th November 2018 asked older workers what was required to keep them working for longer. Whilst 39% of the workers stated that they wanted greater support from employers in general, 78% stated that employers should offer flexible working, whilst 63% believed that they should provide part-time roles
Given the problem of labour shortages and the fact that older workers want to continue working, Emma Stewart, the CEO of Timewise, contends that: "there’s a mutually beneficial solution staring us all in the face: more, better, flexible jobs that answer the needs of older workers. So Timewise is working with the Centre for Ageing Better on an Innovation Unit project to deliver exactly that...By staying in work longer, people in later life are less likely to fall into poverty and suffer from social isolation, both of which impact on their health as well as quality of life. And, of course, they will also continue to contribute to the economy."
Stewart adds: "By staying in work longer, people in later life are less likely to fall into poverty and suffer from social isolation, both of which impact on their health as well as quality of life. And, of course, they will also continue to contribute to the economy....But that doesn’t mean older workers want to continue to work at the same pace or for the same amount of hours a week....Older workers frequently have health conditions and caring responsibilities, which can cause them to exit the workforce earlier than they choose to...That doesn’t mean they can’t work; but they might need to work a bit less, or in a different way."
Recruitment Bias Against Older Workers
A lack of flexible working is not the only barrier to keeping the over-50s in the labour market. Research conducted last year by the ONS / Rest Less found that when a worker over 50 loses their current job, then they are twice as likely to be unemployed for two or more years. Indeed, the ONS found that the over-50s made up 24% of the unemployed, with a third of those workers having been unemployed for at least a year, and a fifth for more than two years.
Luke Price, the senior evidence manager at the Centre for Ageing Better, argues that this kind of 'recruitment bias' against older workers represents just as big a problem as the lack of availability of flexible working, as it has created such disinchantment, that it has contributed to the fact that so many over 50s have simply opted to give up work altogether.
Reaction
Price contends that: "Employers can help by removing the bias within their recruitment process which often causes older workers to disengage with the labour market. A savvy employer who offers employees flexible working alongside health support and reasonable adjustments will reap the benefits of higher productivity and reduced turnover that an older workforce brings."
Price adds: “The benefits to employers who offer flexible working, occupational health, reasonable adjustments and support for employee mental and physical health is made clear in the new ONS survey results highlighting their strong retention of older workers throughout the pandemic. Companies that don’t heed that advice will find that the current recruitment climate will continue to prove extremely challenging."
