More than 100 organisations and businesses, including HM Treasury, the Department for Work and Pensions and Marriott hotels have signed up to the Age-friendly Employer Pledge in its first 100 days.
The Centre for Ageing Better launched the Age-friendly Employer Pledge on 30 November 2022 to support employers who recognise the importance of older workers in boosting productivity and filling key skills gaps. Now, after 100 days, the pledge covers more than 200,000 employees.
The programme requires employers to commit to taking one action a year to improve the recruitment, retention and development of older workers.
About half of businesses and organisations to have signed the pledge are small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 50 employees; one in four are larger employers with more than 1,000 employees.
The pledge chimes with businesses because of the issue of economic inactivity among over 50s, which has now attracted the interest of government. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt highlighted the value of older workers during last week’s budget while announcing new policies intended to help more older people back into work.
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Work and pensions minister Mel Stride is leading a review of economic inactivity, due to conclude in May, while a House of Lords report published in December cited earlier retirement as the biggest factor behind the UK’s skills and labour shortages and warned the rise in inactivity poses serious challenges to the UK economy.
The number of inactive 50- to 64-year-olds has increased by 320,000 since before the pandemic, with this age group accounting for 65% of the increase in working-age inactivity over this period. The employment gap between 35-49 and 50-64-year-olds now stands at 14.6 percentage points – 1.5 percentage points higher than at the start of the pandemic.
Dr Emily Andrews, deputy director for work at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “Employers can show that they are singing from the same hymn sheet as the government by taking action to create a more supportive and attractive work environment for … older workers by signing up to our pledge.”
Under the pledge, businesses and organisations identify a senior sponsor for age-inclusion within their workforce and ensure that age is specifically named within their equality, diversity and inclusion policies.
Employers are also supported to help them improve their practice. Potential actions from participating employees include reducing age bias in recruitment and introducing flexible working which are vital to helping over 50s remain in work.
Catherine Vaughan, age champion and finance director general at the Department for Work and Pensions, said: “We know that older staff provide invaluable expertise, skills and experience to the important work the department does.”
Marion Fry, an HR manager for Marriott Bristol, said: “Multigenerational workforces drive productivity and innovation – older employees play an important role in this through sharing the life skills and maturity they have gained with younger members of the team.”
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She added that Marriott would work towards challenging the perception that the hospitality industry is only for the younger population, by actively advertising that it is also looking for older talent to join its team. “Signing the pledge will help us action these steps in our recruitment process, enabling us to find this older talent.”
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