18 October 2018
Scotland’s workforce is ageing dramatically: in the past 20 years the number of people aged 45-64 has increased by 26% while the number of people aged 25-44 has fallen by 8%. Given the increasing importance of older workers to Scottish employers, there is a clear business case for the creation of policies and strategies designed to support older employees. However, employers have been slow to recognise this demographic reality. This was precisely the challenge and the focus of the ‘Time to Act’ event, which took place at the Business School on 26th September 2018.
‘Time to Act’ brought together around 100 business leaders from around Scotland, to promote action among Scottish employers to become more age-inclusive in their management practices. The event was co-organised by UEBS (Professor Wendy Loretto, Dr Laura Airey and Dr Jakov Jandric), in partnership with Age Scotland, Business in the Community, CIPD and Scottish Government. ‘Time to Act’ showcased age-inclusive workforce policies implemented by businesses who are leading the way in addressing Scotland’s demographic reality – retaining, re-training and recruiting older workers and creating thriving, age-inclusive and multi-generational workforces.
The conference was opened by Andy Briggs, CEO of Aviva and the UK government’s Older Worker Champion. Setting the scene with an overview of increases in life expectancy over the past 100 years, Andy argued for the economic necessity of extending working lives beyond traditional retirement age. Challenging the myths and stereotypes associated with older workers, he presented compelling evidence that embracing older workers and providing them with opportunities for career development is not only good for individuals, it is good for business too. Aviva has found that their older customers respond positively to employees perceived to be of a similar age and stage of life.
After this call to action, Laura Airey and Wendy Loretto presented key research findings from their 2017 study ‘Older People and Employment’, funded by the Scottish Government. They drew attention to the range of barriers to staying in work faced by older people, such as ageism in the labour market, a lack of opportunities to work flexibly, caring responsibilities and health issues. They also highlighted that although employers were making efforts to retain their older workers, they generally lacked policies and strategies to recruit and re-train older workers. Full findings from the study can be accessed on the .
Next up, Shirley Campbell, Director for People at Scottish Water, gave an engaging and inspiring overview of how Scottish Water have responded to their ageing workforce. Over a period of approximately six years, her team have embedded individually-tailored agile working practices that seek to support and develop all employees irrespective of their age.
‘Time to Act’ also marked the launch of , a consultancy service designed to enable employers to identify actions they need to take in order to become Age Inclusive employers. Sue Adlam-Hill and Susan Gordon, both highly experienced HR professionals, introduced the Age Inclusive Matrix and gave examples of their work with employers to implement age-inclusive management practices. Nathalie Brindeau, HR Director of Sodexo, then offered the audience an employer perspective on how engaging with Age Scotland’s AIM has led to changes in Sodexo’s policies and practices, so that they are now more age-inclusive.
A lively discussion panel gave the audience an opportunity to ask our speakers a range of questions relating to the challenges and opportunities presented by an ageing workforce. The Scottish Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, Jamie Hepburn MSP, closed the conference with a speech in which he reaffirmed the Scottish Government’s commitment to supporting the employment of older people under the Fair Work agenda, closing the gender pay gap (which peaks for workers aged 50+), and promoting the Living Wage.
Outcomes and next steps
The results of the interactive poll suggested that the event was successful in raising awareness and knowledge on the matter. At the end of the event, almost 90% of voters indicated that they now felt that the focus on age-inclusivity in their organisation should increase. 85% of voters indicated that, as a result of the conference, their knowledge had increased regarding what their organisation needs to do to become more age-inclusive.
Key actions identified were opening up conversations about age and reviewing flexible work policies and practices. The team at UEBS along with the conference partners are now considering how best to support Scottish employers in these actions.
For more information about Wendy & Laura’s research, or if you would like to be part of the work going forward, please contact Laura.Airey@ed.ac.uk.