The press headlines older workers get are usually negative: the levels of ageism faced, the disproportionate levels of redundancy, the fact so many organisations are unprepared.
Rarely do we hear from people themselves. We surveyed over 5500 people over 50 about their hopes and motivations for their latter working years.
Older workers don’t want to slow down, but they do want to make changes. 74% of respondents felt doing work which offers a sense of purpose was their main driver. Money barely featured by comparison.
The biggest barrier people face when planning for their working future, is simply ‘not knowing what to do next’. This factor alone was almost twice as significant as any other (including age discrimination).
The biggest barrier isn’t the workers, it’s outdated thinking by organisations who know they aren’t providing a job for life but aren’t taking the responsibility that goes with that. Whilst there are some stand out success stories, the prevalence of these employers is vanishingly small. When the recommendations this report makes are simple and low cost the message to all is clear. We really can do a better job and it is within our gift to our future selves to do so.
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