How to attract and retain older workers
Explore tips and practical advice for appealing to and retaining workers over 50 with a diverse range of skills and experiences.
Despite employers across the UK struggling to find the right talent, many overlook a talent pool full of candidates with extensive skills and experience – the over 50s.
Leveraging insights from 4,000 UK jobseekers and 1,000 HR decision-makers, interviews with workers over 50, and analysis of over 4.5 million job ads, research from Totaljobs uncovers how age biases can impact the recruitment process.
Drawing on these findings, in this article we’ll be exploring how you can recruit older workers and retain their extensive skills and experience in the long term.
Understanding the value of older workers
Our research indicates that one-third of jobseekers over 50 are worried that their age may limit their future job prospects, while 27% feel “old” in comparison to their colleagues. Even more concerningly, a quarter of this group admit they may avoid applying for jobs altogether because of these and other concerns around age bias.
These findings reflect the fact that many employers across the UK are overlooking the importance and value of older workers. By doing so, they risk missing out on a wealth of experience and expertise that could significantly benefit their organisations.
The benefits of a multigenerational workforce
The importance of hiring and retaining older workers goes beyond filling roles, opening the door to the advantages of a multigenerational workforce.
A multigenerational team brings together employees from different age groups, each contributing their unique expertise, experiences, and viewpoints. This creates opportunities for:
- Knowledge transfer: Older workers possess a wealth of experience and know-how accumulated over years, if not decades, in their fields. This expertise can be shared with younger colleagues through mentorship and informal coaching, helping to develop the next generation of talent.
- Industry expertise: In many industries, there are aspects of the job that can only be mastered over time. Older employees often bring niche expertise that complements the skills and competencies of younger workers, giving employers a competitive edge by combining deep industry knowledge with modern know-how.
- Unique perspectives: Having worked through various technological, cultural, and economic changes, older workers offer perspectives that can enrich innovation. Their experiences can balance fresh ideas from younger employees, leading to more creative problem-solving and diverse approaches to challenges.
- Workforce diversity: Diverse teams can be more innovative and productive, and including workers from various age groups enhances diversity by bringing in a broader range of experiences and viewpoints, resulting in better decision-making, improved profits, and higher employee retention rates.
Take a deep dive into the key challenges and advantages of managing a multigenerational workforce, with practical strategies for leveraging the diverse skills, knowledge, and experience of employees across all age groups.
Common misconceptions around older workers
Despite their value, older workers often face misconceptions that prevent employers from fully appreciating their potential.
Here are a few common myths about experienced employees that are typically unfounded:
- Older workers struggle with technology: A misconception among 56% of recruiters is that older workers are less skilled in technology. This stereotype persists despite evidence showing that older workers are just as eager to adapt and learn. In fact, 85% of workers over 50 express a strong willingness to learn new skills, debunking the idea that age hinders technological adaptability.
- Older workers are less reliable: Another false belief is that older employees are less committed than their younger peers. Contrary to this, our research shows older workers often stay with their employers longer, proving to be more loyal and less likely to seek new job offers.
- Older workers are close to retirement: Many employers assume workers over 50 are on the brink of retirement and not worth investing in. However, three-quarters of workers over 60 are open to working beyond the traditional retirement age, especially when they find their work meaningful, demonstrating that older workers are often flexible and eager to continue contributing, as long as their roles remain engaging.
Creating an age-inclusive recruitment strategy
With the benefits of hiring older workers clear and common misconceptions addressed, it’s time to explore how to make your recruitment strategy more inclusive of this valuable talent pool.
Below we’ll be looking at practical advice on how to recruit older workers and create an age-friendly hiring process. Let’s dive in.
Write job descriptions that appeal to older workers
Job descriptions can unintentionally deter candidates from applying for jobs due to their age. For example, our findings show that 30% of workers over the age of 50 feel that workplace culture descriptions often favour younger jobseekers.
In order to combat this perception and attract applications from experienced candidates, when writing job descriptions look to:
- Avoid age-specific language and emphasise skills and experience
- State that your organisation values the expertise of older workers
Showcase a commitment to diversity
Highlighting your organisation’s commitment to diversity is crucial, especially since 46% of recruiters admit that candidates over 57 are sometimes deemed “too old” for the roles they are hiring for.
To combat this, you can include a clear diversity statement in your job adverts. This can help encourage applicants from all age groups and promote a more inclusive work environment.
Ensure an age-friendly application process
According to the findings of our research, one in ten candidates over 50 report being explicitly rejected due to age in the hiring process, while 22% have altered their applications to avoid feeling at a disadvantage due to age-related bias.
As a result, removing unnecessary questions around age and instead focusing on qualifications can help build a more age-friendly application process, fostering a more inclusive environment that allows candidates to present themselves honestly.
Assess all candidates fairly
With almost 60% of recruiters admitting to making age-based assumptions and 42% feeling pressured to hire younger candidates, ensuring impartial candidate assessments can be a challenge.
One way to overcome this is by utilising different interview formats that can reduce the impact of bias. For example:
- Competency-based interviews: These interviews focus on candidate’s ability to demonstrate skills relevant to the role, using structured questions to assess competencies rather than personal characteristics. This helps ensure candidates are judged on their performance, minimising the impact of age-related biases.
- Panel interviews: A panel interview involves multiple interviewers, often from diverse backgrounds, who assess candidates collectively, thereby reducing individual biases. Including interviewers of varying ages further helps counteract age-related bias, fostering a fairer assessment process.
Provide attractive benefits
Tailoring your benefits package to their needs can help your organisation appeal to older workers. For example, our research shows that when it comes to incentives to work past the retirement age of 66:
- 51% of candidates over 60 wanted the option of flexible working hours
- 39% were interested in flexi-retirement, which could mean part-time work, job sharing, or project-based work
- 30% wanted financial incentives, with particular emphasis on retirement funds.
Additionally, providing healthcare and wellness programmes that address specific health conditions can make your organisation more attractive to older talent, demonstrating a commitment to supporting their overall wellbeing.
5 strategies for retaining older workers
Attracting older workers to your organisation is just the first step. Keeping them motivated and retaining them is equally important.
Here are five practical strategies to help you keep this valuable demographic engaged and committed for the long term.
1. Offer flexible working hours
With flexibility a top priority for of candidates over the age of 60 you need to recognise the importance of accommodating their needs, which may include caring responsibilities or balancing personal commitments.
To cater to this, you can implement flexible working arrangements such as flexible start and finish times, remote work options, or compressed work weeks. Regularly review and adapt these arrangements based on individual needs to enhance job satisfaction and retention for older workers.
2. Consider flexi-requirements roles
Flexi-retirement options, such as part-time work, project-based roles, or job-sharing schemes, allow older workers to transition into retirement gradually while maintaining professional engagement and sharing their expertise.
To support this, you can offer flexible role options that cater specifically to older workers, like phased retirement plans or consulting roles. Promoting these opportunities within your organisation can help you retain experienced talent and keep them connected at a level that suits their evolving needs.
3. Provide interesting work
Older applicants, particularly those over 60, value meaningful and engaging work, with 96% citing this as crucial to their job satisfaction. Keeping them motivated often means aligning their responsibilities with their skills, interests, and areas of expertise.
As a result, you can keep older workers engaged by designing roles that tap into their extensive experience and involve them in projects that challenge and excite them. Regularly discussing their career interests and aligning tasks to their strengths will help maintain their commitment and enthusiasm.
4. Offer ongoing training
Older workers are just as keen as younger colleagues to continue learning and developing professionally. They value opportunities to enhance their skills, adapt to new technologies, and stay relevant in their fields.
To support their growth, you can include older workers in training programmes, offer workshops tailored to upskill them, and provide access to learning platforms. This approach ensures they feel valued and encourages a culture of lifelong learning, which boosts retention and job satisfaction.
5. Promote a culture of respect and inclusion
Creating a respectful and inclusive workplace is key to retaining older workers, especially when 86% of candidates over 50 worry that younger recruiters may undervalue their experience. Furthermore, a positive culture that recognises the contributions of all age groups helps foster loyalty and engagement.
You can promote respect and inclusion by offering training on age diversity and unconscious bias, encouraging mentorship programmes that connect different generations and actively celebrating the achievements of older employees. This helps create an environment where everyone feels valued and appreciated.
Combatting age bias in the workplace and recruitment
Older candidates provide employers with a wealth of expertise that is especially valuable in industries experiencing talent shortages. By cultivating a hiring process and workplace culture that values and engages older workers, you can effectively harness their diverse skills and perspectives to benefit your organisation.
Check out our full report ‘The Age Advantage: Overcoming Age Bias to Hire Experienced Talent’ for more insights into how you can embrace the age advantage in recruitment, futureproof talent strategies and foster a more inclusive, forward-looking workplace.