Recruiting more over-50s

Working in Local Government, we seem to have the opposite problem (and we do not seem to be the only ones experiencing this nationally)! Our largest age group is 45-55 and we are struggling to recruit the under 25's so as to balance out an ageing workforce for succession planning etc.
I also know from personal experience of a family member that after being made redundant in his 50s he really struggled to find work and even Agency work dried up after a while.

Hi Clare

I've been around in HR for a long time and am surprised that nowadays any organisation would consider succession planning more than about three years ahead to be viable. So even your 55 year old will only be 58 at that point - almost ten years away from state pension eligibility. (Yes folks it's currently 67 and still rising!).

Are we not in danger of justifying our behaviour by hiding behind HR processes? Employers have jobs to be done. There are skills out there in the workforce. The age of the applicant should be immaterial.

Well we haven't quite reached looking at Succession planning yet, but being Local Government we want to promote a more balanced age profile - particularly to encourage the under 25's.
Yes definitely agree with age is immaterial - should be whoever is best skilled for the role.

I find this very interesting, and personally I agree with Julie and her comments. Having just reached the age of 57 (and received a 30 year certificate from the CIPD in recognition of my services to HR) I feel it is one of the areas of discrimination that is overlooked, and where there is often bias. As Julie says, people can easily work how old you are from a form and if I have to put all my employment history on application forms, it feels as if I'm writing War and Peace, as I started work in 1984.

I am pleased to say that I have recently secured a new role, I was in fact invited to four interviews (so I must be getting something right).

I do agree that it is about the best person for the role, but people do make judgements and assumptions (often based on not very much) about an 'older' worker.

I find this very interesting, and personally I agree with Julie and her comments. Having just reached the age of 57 (and received a 30 year certificate from the CIPD in recognition of my services to HR) I feel it is one of the areas of discrimination that is overlooked, and where there is often bias. As Julie says, people can easily work how old you are from a form and if I have to put all my employment history on application forms, it feels as if I'm writing War and Peace, as I started work in 1984.

I am pleased to say that I have recently secured a new role, I was in fact invited to four interviews (so I must be getting something right).

I do agree that it is about the best person for the role, but people do make judgements and assumptions (often based on not very much) about an 'older' worker.

I’m so glad you have managed to secure a new role, at least there is some hope out there for us older applicants

I have all but given up. Thankfully I want to work, I don’t need to but god help older jobseekers who do need to put food on the table. They will be left with taking low pay, low skill, zero hours etc as that is the only type of vacancies that appear to be open to everyone.

Having disguised my age as much as possible on applications I get to interviews but they take one look and you can see the eyes glazing over, they look at the grey hair not the skills. I am actually shocked at the behaviour of some organisations. I could write a book about some of my experiences at interview, you couldn’t make them up. This happens even with an HR professional in the room, in fact sometimes they are the worst offenders!

Here is a challenge for anyone who wants to look at their own organisation. How many people over the age of 50 have you recruited externally in the last few years (not transferred in from another branch or promoted) brought in from an open external recruitment into anything other than jobs at the top (CEO, Director) or jobs at the very bottom (cleaners, assistants, minimum wage roles). The answer may be telling.

Thanks Julie. I know, it was a challenge. Don't give up! The right role is out there somewhere for you, and believe me I had my fair share of rejections too.

And yes, I am officially the oldest member of the HR Department!

As the population changes and there are fewer younger people and more older people, then there can only be more older people doing the recruiting. If it is still harder for an older person to get a job when we reach that tipping point, then we (the people who are seen as being older) will need to take a hard look at ourselves and our biases. Call me an optimist, but a change will surely come even if no action is taken to address biases.

I'm old enough to be everyone in the HR DEpartment's mum :)

This is the first organisation I've worked in, where the MD and all of the Senior Management Team are younger than me. It was quite a shock to start with as it doesn't seem that long since i was the youngest. However, having had to be dragged kicking and screaming into my 50's, I'm coming to terms with being a proper grown up now

I really do hope you are correct.

We live in a society that seems to currently be obsessed with youth and appearance over substance - you only have to look at The time and money people spend on lotions, potions, make up, hair dye, false nails, botox etc etc. In that environment older applicants (and we all get there eventually) start at an automatic disadvantage.

As you say hopefully necessity brought on by population change will address the issue, eventually.

Keep going Julie - people already in employment have legislation to protect them, as allegedly we do with regard to recruitment. But that doesn't happen and as has been said above there are many ways where your age is obvious ((when asked for o levels, etc). I am the oldest person in my company and love the mix, but for long time despaired of getting anything at all. And many of us ( especially young people) will have to work until we drop anyway. Happily, its Friday...

I've just found the link to the Mercer research into workforce demographic changes:
•There were 82,000 fewer people between the ages of 18 and 24 in employment compared with a year earlier (despite the reduced unemployment rate).
•There were 200,000 more workers between 50 and 64 compared with a year earlier.
www.uk.mercer.com/.../workforce-monitor-2018.html

The bulk of the population is either retired or reaching retirement, the birth rate 10 years ago was just under 2.0 (it had been rising) however the past few years it has decreased but not substantially. So there will be more young people entering the workforce in the near future and it will rise for a good few years. I can't see it ever getting up to Baby Boomer numbers again which were around 3.0

I've been asked my age on regular occassions, been interviewed by people who are young enough to be my children.