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Over-50s who have started a new or different job
With the new Age discrimination act soon to come into force there is a slew of new initiatives for older job seekers. Sites like Age Positive and New Deal 50 plus are designed to make it easier for over-50s to find work There are also a growing number of agencies aimed specifically at mid-life job hunters.
Ross Hetherington, director of Hays Specialist Recruitment says the demand for more mature applicants is increasing.
“There are obvious benefits to taking on more experienced individuals. It brings that experience to the team and creates a more mature workforce who can support each other.”
Angela Mortimer, of the recruitment company of the same name, comments: “We’re constantly handling assignments requiring a high level of competence and, almost without fail older candidates get short-listed above those in their thirties, because they have both managerial skills and gravitas.”
That’s not to say that ageism at work has gone away. “Older workers may be perceived as a threat because they know more, uneconomic because they cost more, slower to learn new skills or as not fitting in because the company only employs young people,” says Mike Saunders, of Wrinklies Direct.
Despite this the time has never been better to go knocking on employers’ doors. With the pool of younger employees shrinking employers are being forced to admit the sense of - if not always to fully embrace - age diversity.
Encouragingly a study by the Department of Work and Pensions
(www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2005-2006/rrep295.pdf) found that employers value motivation, flexibility and ‘soft skills’, such as communication that fifty-somethings often have in bucketloads, over qualifications and technical knowledge.
Meanwhile, the new law although unlikely to change things overnight, is a start. Which is, after all, what most mid-life job seekers are looking for.
Written by Patsy Westcott
This article was created: 25 July 2006.
This article was last edited: 6 November 2006.
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