2 weeks ago, at Velocity we lost the services of our 2 oldest temporary workers to retirement, both aged 78, both born during World War 2, which I found remarkable. One was a Storeman in Sunderland, and one was an HGV driver in Norwich. Both were working full-time. Both will be a miss, personally and professionally.
It made me wonder about age and the workplace. It is believed that as many as 1 in 7 people working in the UK are aged 65 or above. According to the ONS there were 1.468 million workers aged 65 or over employed in June 2022 and the biggest employment sectors were health and social care, closely followed by retail and vehicle repairs.
You may need to be prepared to be more flexible to their needs and expectations but if you are prepared to be adaptable, in my mind there is no doubt that older workers can add great value to organisations and be great mentors to their colleagues.
I have 2 questions for you. How many people over 65 do you employ in your organization and realistically what age do you expect to be working till?
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