Representing an ageing workforce: a bargaining agenda: This report, sponsored by the Trades Union Congress, discusses how unions can negotiate with employers age positive human resource management approaches to support older workers who want or need to delay retirement
What are the supply (workforce) and demand (product) implications of an
ageing society? This report is part of the Foresight Future of Manufacturing series. It discusses the manufacturing sector’s preparedness for changing age
demographics. Over the next forty years, the number of people over traditional retirement
age will grow rapidly, while those of traditional working age will shrink. For most people,
extended lifespan will not mean extended “old age”, but rather more time spent in good
health, and greater disposable time and income than they had earlier in life. While longer
lives are a cause to celebrate, they also create a range of economic, cultural and political
challenges, especially the need to improve the economic “dependency ratio”, by
extending working life for many, or all, people.
National Omnibus survey The report of this study has been as Changing Work in later life: a study of job transition (McNair et al, 2004). The report is an analysis of the findings of a national survey, carried out in Spring 2003, to investigate the nature of job change in the labour market, particularly as it affects people over the age of 50. The survey covered Great Britain, and was funded by the South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA), which is concerned to find ways of making better use of the talents of older people in a regional labour market which is experiencing near full employment, and growing skill shortages.
Age Discrimination: a lived experience: The report, sponsored by HE-ESF, examines the working of the labour market as it affects people over 50. Based on interviews with older workers, it examines how age age gender intersect to create barriers to work faced by older people.
Employer Responses to an Ageing Workforce This qualitative study of employers’ attitudes to older workers was carried out for the Department of Work and Pensions in 2006. The report is published in the DWP Research Reports series no 455. The study was based on 70 qualitative interviews, to explore issues identified in the previous quantitative study by Metcalf and Meadows (DWP Research Report 325 [insert link]. It examined employers attitudes and practices in relation to older workers, the influence of firm size and sector, evidence of change in response to legislation. Its most striking findings were that employers viewed older workers positively, but that small firms in particular were taking defensive positions in response to legislation, with the perverse effect of restricting opportunities for older workers.
Managing an ageing workforce in….. The ageing of the workforce raises different issues in different industries and occupations, and the Department of Work and Pensions commissioned CROW to investigate these differences. The first outcome of this work has been a series of nine short reports on age management issues in specific sectors, published in August 2006. Each examines the particular issues facing one sector, based on a national survey of over 2000 employers, carried out in Spring 2005. The sectors are: Business Services Construction Education Health & Social Care Hospitality Manufacturing Retail Transport “Other Community Services”.
The Age Dimension of Employment Practices: Employer case studies The report of this study has been published in the DTI’s Employment Relations Research Series (no. 42) as The Age Dimension of Employment practices: employer case studies . The report looks at the age dimension of current HR policies and practices of a range of UK employers.
Strengthening the Older Workforce: an evaluation of the ReGrow project in the South East
The ReGrow project was created to pilot and evaluate careers advice and training for people working in small firms in the South East. Over 1100 people received a careers interview, and most also received some – relatively short – training. The results were very positive for them and their employers. The project was managed by A4e, funded by the European Social Fund through the South East Region of the LSC, and evaluated by CROW. The evaluation report explores the way the employees attitudes to work changed during the project, and what their employers thought of the process. The project has important lessons for the development of the Government’s Adult Advancement and Careers Service, and for its training policy.
