Why older workers are now in demand

02/06/2008

I read with great interest recently that UK entrepreneurs are increasingly relying on older workers to plug skills shortages in their businesses. It seems that nearly half (45%) of UK owner-managers are concerned about skills shortages and many claim that younger recruits are often just not up to the job.

As a result, many entrepreneurs are now looking to the previously untapped potential of older workers to plug the gap, with two thirds (66%) of SME leaders agreeing that the employment of workers aged 50 plus is a good solution to skills shortages. And more than a fifth (22%) of entrepreneurial businesses actually favour the hiring of older workers over college leavers as a solution to staffing problems.

In my own career I discovered, along with many others, that if you fall off the corporate ladder in your 40s (let alone your 50s) it’s tough to get back on at the same level - or even get back on at all. I believe that as we head into murky economic waters which remind me of the early 1990s, many businesses will need help from the people that have seen it all before.

In a credit crunch you need experienced people with bite!

Martin Lloyd-Penny, MD, Mature Accountants Ltd