A large proportion of over-50s have worked fewer hours and are more likely to have been made redundant in the wake of the pandemic state figures taken from the Office for National Statistics
The over-50s also made up more than a quarter of the 1.3 million people who were furloughed, and three in 10 of those workers on furlough believe there is a 50 per cent or higher chance that they will lose their job when the scheme ends.
Those over 50 also saw the highest increase in redundancy over the same period, more than doubling from 4.3 to 9.7 per thousand and representing the highest redundancy rate across age groups in the latest quarter.
The figures also showed that one in eight workers aged 50 and over have changed their retirement plans as a result of the pandemic, with 8 per cent planning to retire later than originally planned.
The findings show that government and business need to factor in older workers as part of their recovery plan. It was thought that younger workers had been most displaced by the Covid crisis but the figures show that it is also those at the older end of the workforce, who may need to work for financial reasons and often are struggling with health and caring responsibilities, that have been seriously affected too. Matt Flynn, professor at the University of Hull and director of the Centre for Research into the Older Workforce when commenting on the figures stated that “The big problem for 50-plus workers is that, once they lose their jobs, they often find it difficult to get back into work and even more difficult to get back into work that matches their previous salaries and skills levels.
“Unemployment and underemployment of older workers is a huge waste of skills and experience, which an economy that is just coming out of lockdown can ill afford to lose.”