TotalJobs has stated that in 2011, a government report declared that ‘over the next decade, the changing age profile of the workforce will be the most significant development in the UK labour market, as a third of workers will be over 50 by 2020’.
The report explained that employers will be expected to respond to this demographic shift, by making work more attractive and feasible for older workers – enabling them to work up to and beyond pension age. However, older workers are not yet seeing this level of progress and half of employees aged 45 years and over believe that workplaces ‘naturally cater towards younger employees.’
According to research by Lee Hecht Harrison/Penna, employees believe that ageism is the most frequent form of discrimination in the workplace. They found that a fifth of UK employees feel discriminated against in promotion decisions and of these the most common cause of inequality is age (39%), followed by gender (26%) and employment status (22%).
HR professionals were also surveyed but they were most likely to be of the opinion that gender was the most widespread form of inequality – but that 94% of all promotions processes were fair. However, 29% of the employees surveyed felt that the promotion processes at their company was unfair.
In a recent TotalJobs survey, when older workers were asked about their main fears in the workplace, health issues topped the list with 30% of the employees surveyed citing it as their main concern. This was followed by 27% concerned about being out of touch with technology and 24% worried about not being able to learn new things quickly. Despite these concerns, two thirds of those surveyed stated that their desire to adapt to changes in working practices had either been sustained or increased with age.
A spokesperson for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) stated that the wealth of experience that older workers bring to the workplace must start to be embraced - sooner rather than later - and added, “HR needs to start encouraging employers to see older workers as an opportunity rather than a challenge. These skills and lengthy experience can benefit the wider workforce and the business as a whole.”
The report suggested ways for employers, employees and HR to manage workplaces with a diverse age range, using tools such as a space created to encourage knowledge sharing; an area designed to support and maintain cognitive health and alertness and standing desks and ergonomic furniture. Another recommendation was a ‘meal consultant’ to encourage healthier eating.
Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott, professors at London Business School and authors of The 100 Year-Life, warn that many companies could resist having a diverse workforce in the future stating that for organisations – and especially HR departments – it “.....sounds like a nightmare as companies like conformity and simple predictable systems that are easy to run and implement. So don’t be surprised if large numbers of institutions resist these changes.”
