Employment and age in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area: Local evidence about workers aged 50 and older

Offering flexible working, job redesign and reasonable adjustments, having age-friendly management and cultures, and having age-inclusive recruitment practices are important to recruit and retain workers aged 50+.

What is the issue?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people aged 50+ left the workforce at a high rate in the UK, and employment rates have not yet recovered. These trends led to concerns around the health, wellbeing and quality of life of these individuals after leaving the workforce, along with questions about the overall labour supply and economy in the UK and the ability of employers to recruit and retain workers with relevant skills. Although there has been national evidence around workers aged 50+, there is limited evidence available for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area that can be used to inform decisions around how to support workers as they age.

How did we help?

RAND Europe conducted a preliminary study using desk research and interviews with local and national stakeholders to investigate the following research questions:

1. If people aged 50+ are leaving the workplace earlier than expected in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area, why is that?
2. To what extent is the recruitment and retention of workers aged 50+ an issue for employers and people aged 50+ in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area?
3. What populations and industry sectors are most affected by issues relating to work and age in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area?
4. What is being done to support workers aged 50+ among employers in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area, and does this reflect what workers want and need?

This was a preliminary, exploratory study to understand whether there is an issue in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area, and if so, what this issue looks like. Further research is needed to understand the experience of workers aged 50+ in greater detail, and to more comprehensively answer the research questions above.

What did we find?

There is a trend towards an ageing workforce in the UK, despite a dip in participation of people aged 50+ in the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some challenges faced by people aged 50+ in relation to work include:

• Risk of poor health and disability, which can create challenges working in certain roles, particularly where jobs are physically demanding
• Caring responsibilities can cause workers, particularly women, to leave the workforce to take on unpaid caring roles
• Real and perceived skills gaps among workers aged 50+, particularly around technology, although it is important to note that these are not universal
• Age-based discrimination and a lack of age-friendly cultures exist in some workplaces, particularly in terms of offering career development and training opportunities to workers aged 50+.

However, this study also identified support that may be helpful for people aged 50+ to continue working for longer such as targeted training courses, health and social care service interventions and having supportive employers and managers.

Workers in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area experience many of the same challenges as the wider population in the UK. However, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area has a high degree of socioeconomic and health-related inequality, which influences who is able to afford retirement, the conditions in which people work, and the challenges that they face outside of work that affect their ability to participate in the labour market. In addition, the area has several new and emerging industries which tend to require specialised skills, including technology-related skills. Some people aged 50+ may not have these skills or may be perceived to not have these skills by employers. Therefore, opportunities to re-skill or up-skill may be important for those people aged 50+ wanting to work in those industries.

What can be done?

Collaboration between diverse types of stakeholders to prepare for an ageing workforce will be increasingly important to support an ageing workforce, including employers of people aged 50+, the public sector (e.g. local authorities) and third sector organisations that support people as they age.

There is a need to investigate how inequalities influence people aged 50+ experience the labour market, local skills gaps and the extent to which these align with the skills of people aged 50+ looking for work, and the support and training available to people aged 50+ and whether it meets their needs.

For employers, offering flexible working, job redesign and reasonable adjustments, having age-friendly management and cultures, and having age-inclusive recruitment practices are important to recruit and retain workers aged 50+.

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Read the full study