Age Inclusion: A World of Possibilities

55/Redefined

Employers cannot afford not to get to grips with our shifting demographics and prepare for longer working lives. The argument for age inclusion is overwhelming.

Mandy Garner

Mandy Garner is a freelance journalist and editor. She was the former managing editor of WM People and is a communications officer at the University of Cambridge. She has experience working in a range of roles, including senior broadcast journalist at the BBC, former features editor of Times Higher Education and researcher for the writers organisation International PEN.

The world of work is at a critical juncture as it faces the biggest demographic shift of our lifetime. New research shows the replacement rate of 2.1 - the average number of children a woman needs to have to maintain a population - has been falling since the 1960s. In the UK it has now dropped below 1.4. That means employers’ traditional reliance on young people to answer all their talent problems just won’t work anymore and it is now imperative that they cultivate their midlife talent.

It’s not all gloom, though. While the number of younger people in the world is shrinking at a rate of 1-2% every year in all regions except Sub-Saharan Africa, many of us are living longer, healthier lives. Half of children born in the UK today are predicted to live until 104 and that’s before you factor in medical advances over the coming decades!

That opens up huge possibility if employers can attract and retain older workers and extend their working lives. To do that, they need an age strategy.

This is not just about tackling discrimination or being nice to older people. An age strategy involves recruiting, retaining and understanding older workers. This is business critical and affects every aspect of how we work, from rewards and benefits to marketing.

Age inclusion must be built in, not bolted on.

“If you're not leaning into the only growth demographic of customers, if you're not leaning in to the only growth demographic of talent, then you cannot possibly as an organisation have a growth strategy.” - Lyndsey Simpson, Founder & CEO, 55/Redefined

Yet many employers don’t have any data on what their older employees want or need in order to prolong their careers or to stay in their jobs. They often don’t understand the barriers they face, such as assumptions based on bias rather than evidence. For instance, employers tend to think older workers are more expensive. Yet 89% told us they would be willing to take a pay cut to change role, industry or to reskill. What’s more, 37% of employers say they won’t hire over 55s because they think they will get ill, although research shows they are actually 200% less likely to take time off sick.

Age Pioneers

55/Redefined is trying to tackle these erroneous assumptions and wake employers up to the reality of the demographic tsunami heading their way. At the January Age Pioneers Summit we heard from businesses including LinkedIn, Barclays, Warner Bros. Discovery and AMS, as well as Eleanor Mills, best-selling author and founder of Noon.

There were shocking statistics on employers’ likelihood of hiring candidates over 50, with the figure falling from 47% for those in their 30s and 40s to just 13% for over 55s despite older workers having many of the soft skills the workforce needs and being much more open to learning new skills than employers may think.

Nevertheless, LinkedIn posts on age inclusion are growing fast, with a 79% increase in engagement with age-related posts noted in recent months. A movement is building.

Partnering with 55/Redefined

At Age Pioneers, leading employers shared how they had worked with 55/Redefined to understand the age make-up of their workforce and what over-50s want from work. They said it was vital that their employee profile matches that of their customers, given older consumers are their main business growth opportunity, and cited research from Gartner showing that diverse and multigenerational teams are 288% more likely to exceed their financial targets.

55/Redefined helped them to come up with a robust age strategy, based on their own unique challenges. That led them to change their employee value proposition, including their approach to flexible working and career development as well as to health benefits.

They also helped them look at how they could reach out to older candidates and set up age-related employee resource groups who could offer feedback on the success of their age strategy. And they trained business leaders on how to better manage multigenerational teams.

AMS spoke about its ambition to become the most age-inclusive recruitment outsourcing consultancy firm. Its pioneering stance is vital given that talent attraction is renowned for being the most age biased function in a business. 55/Redefined is working closely with AMS to extend the age inclusion conversation globally, alongside its work with Noon on opening up careers and job opportunities for midlife women.

Midlife Reinvention

Eleanor Mills spoke of over 50s women’s desire not to be reduced to a group of menopausal, hormonal hysterics and about their need for challenge and adventure despite the huge life issues many are dealing with - from divorce to bereavement and redundancy. She wants to reshape the narrative around midlife women, counter negative stereotypes and show how much they have to offer employers.

Going International

Like the speakers, 55/Redefined itself is continuing to pioneer. Its new Me/Redefined platform is the world’s first age intelligence and enterprise coaching programme. Available now, the platform has been piloted with industry leaders who have reported a substantial increase in users’ confidence about their future.

The platform helps them to consider where they want to go next with their careers and can serve as a key retention tool for employers as well as supplying them with much-needed data on older employees’ intentions. These employees may feel they cannot have open conversations about their career pathways, particularly around retirement, with their managers.

Although not a lobbying organisation, 55/Redefined is also working with partners to achieve some policy changes to encourage employers to hire more over-50s. For instance, it is working to get a National Insurance Contributions exemption for employers hiring over-55s who have been out of work for more than six months and it is pushing for reform of the apprentice levy so that it can be used to upskill over-50s.

Another big announcement at Age Pioneers was the launch of International Age Pioneers Week - a global event in November to drive the age inclusion agenda forward. The Week will see the publication of new data on older people who are happy to accept a reduced salary as part of a career transition.

The argument for age inclusion is overwhelming. Employers cannot afford not to get to grips with our shifting demographics and prepare for longer working lives.

Age Pioneers was bursting with practical and positive ideas of how to do just that. Through sharing their experiences across sectors, employers left inspired and ready to make a difference.

The next Age Pioneers Summit will take place in London on 18th June 2025. Spaces are very limited, so ensure you request a place soon to avoid disappointment: https://lu.ma/AgePioneersJune2025

To learn more about Me/Redefined, the new age intelligence and enterprise coaching platform, visit: https://me-redefined.co