News

Many Workers Over 50 Stuck In Career Rut

11 November 2010

The Change at any Age study looks at ways employers can invest in their workforce to avoid "career plateau"

With the fixed retirement age being abolished in 2011, and the state pension age rising for both men and women to 66 in 2020, a new study from the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) and Cranfield School of Management reveals that there is considerable stagnation in the careers of many over 50s, and many employers are not currently doing enough to prevent this and the loss of skills and attitudinal problems that result.

The Change at any Age report shows that on average respondents actually want to retire at age 61 despite being fully aware that they may have to work later than this.  However whilst career transitions - upwards, sideways or a total change - are an important part of person's working life, the likelihood of making these moves declines significantly with age.  Amongst those asked the average time since any job transition in the over 50s is more than three times as long as it is for those under 30 (over three years, compared with just 12 months).  This therefore suggests that many careers are likely to plateau or stagnate as people get older.

Rachel Krys, Campaign Director at the Employers Forum on Age, comments: "As employment rates have risen in the past decade, there are now a lot more people remaining in their jobs for longer before they retire.  However, our study tells us that many employers do not have the correct measures in place to motivate older workers and help them develop.  This means that apathy may set in amongst the workforce once it reaches a certain age, which has a detrimental effect on both individuals' own working lives and those around them. Workers now need to have more than one career in their lifetime to keep them motivated as they get older, so therefore many employers must change the way they manage people in the future."

The study also discovered that whilst there are now increased numbers of over 50s in the workforce, there is a high level of people with no qualifications and, in general, this age group is offered fewer training and development opportunities than their younger colleagues.  This results in a concern around job security that stops them making career changes.

Dr Emma Parry, Principal Research Fellow, Cranfield School of Management comments: "Past research has shown that a lot of people do not receive support at all for any job change, and the proportion with access to help also declines with age.  We found that a person's line manager was identified as being the single most important factor in retention and career transitions - even more so than training and appraisals or career development.

Flexible working patterns are also a crucial factor for employees of all ages. It is also something that affects older workers' decisions to work longer.  In addition, other necessary aspects included peer support, a generally supportive organisation, an investment in skills and a tailored development plan."

Krys continued: "It is incredibly important to retain employees of all ages in the workplace and extending working life has benefits for society, employers and individuals alike.  The report has shown that, at the end of the day, employees want to feel valued and stimulated in their jobs.  There is clearly a need to provide older workers with support in order for them to make successful career choices and enhance their working lives until they decide to retire.  We call on companies throughout the UK to take this study into consideration when putting in place future career management or career support programmes. We should all be able to make a change at any age."

EFA's Change at any Age study can be downloaded from http://www.efa.org.uk/publications.php/646/change-at-any-age-report

It provides information on how employers can encourage older workers to remain motivated in the workforce and to make career moves by implementing appropriate policies and practices to extend working life, including consideration of workload and job design, training and development, flexible working arrangements and organisational culture.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About the Change at Any Age study:

The EFA recently commissioned Cranfield School of Management to investigate the opportunities and barriers for career changes and re-training for different people. This was mapped against age, life-stage and gender. The findings are based on the following:

• A review of existing literature and secondary data on career transitions and age (mainly from the Labour Force Survey).
• Ten interviews were conducted with experts in this subject area:

• Interviews with HR representatives from five organisations - Coca Cola Enterprises, Centrica, Sainsbury's, Hertfordshire County Council, and Sandwell Primary Care Trust - and a total of 48 employees from these five organisations.
• A survey completed by 853 employees across four of the above organisations - Centrica, Sainsbury's, Hertfordshire County Council, and Sandwell Primary Care Trust (see Table 1 below).

Table 1: Responses from each organisation

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