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It may have taken a cinematic accident for Mel Gibson to discover ‘what women want’ but here at Brave Starts towers we’re much more traditional. We’ve been surveying members since the start and now have over 6,000 responses.
Our members are drawn from a range of sectors, with 16% coming from teaching and education; 9% from healthcare, and 8% from accountancy, banking and finance. Smaller percentages come from retail, IT, engineering, charity, sales and public services, among others. The majority of respondents – 93% – are aged 51 or over.
And if you are a recruiter who has turned down older applicants in the belief they’ll be too expensive, will find it difficult to learn new things or won’t cope with a younger manager, we’ve got news for you: aspirations change and older people adapt. Let’s be honest, we’re pretty good at adapting – we’ve spent our working lives taking every new technology in our stride, including the ones that are now obsolete: fax machines, anyone?
What Factors are Important When Exploring New Work Options?
1. A Sense of Purpose
We asked what factors are important when exploring new work options. Before there are any complaints about percentages not adding up to 100, respondents could vote for more than one option. Top of the wish list, with 60% of respondents ticking the box, was doing ‘something that has a sense of purpose’.
There’s a myth that older workers are more expensive – not true. Having done the ambition and promotion merry-go-round, many older workers want to put something back. They want to make the world a better place by using their experience in a positive way. And they’re being ignored?
2. Flexible Roles
The second most important factor for older workers is ‘work that offers flexibility’. In other words, time is often more precious for the over-50s than money. Many have found themselves with caring responsibilities for older relatives, some still have children at home and are sandwiched between the two. For those whose parents have died, there is often a sense of their own mortality – a sense of an age cap and the time they have left to achieve their ambitions.
Flexibility can range from part-time work or compressed hours to working from home – it depends on the individual.
3. Learning Something New
Another myth is about to be busted! Anyone who thinks older people can’t learn new things may be surprised to discover that third on our wish list – with 42% of members voting for it – is...’I’m keen to learn something new’.
What Factors are Stopping People From Making a Change?
1. Deciding What to Do Next
We also asked what factors are stopping people from making a change. Top of the list was ‘I have no idea what to do next’, with 74% ticking that box. It goes back to the earlier points about time being precious and being at the stage of life where you want to put something back, and it’s one of the things the Brave Starts programme helps members discover.
2. Age Discrimination
Second on the list of barriers – with 41% agreeing – is age discrimination, with many experiencing it and those who haven’t fearing it. It’s an ongoing frustration that this is the one characteristic protected under the Equality Act that we will all experience unless tragedy strikes, and yet the government shows no sign of any interest in resolving it.
3. Lack of Flexible Roles & Unable to Take Pay Cut
Equal third, with 31% of votes, is the ‘inability to find anything with sufficient flexibility’ and the ‘inability to take a pay cut’ – older workers may not be more expensive than their younger counterparts but they still need to pay the bills.
What’s the solution to all this? We asked what employers could do to help their older workers. And we reckon that any employer who’s half-way decent won’t find the answers difficult. Our survey said that 57% thought having the time to explore and develop new skills would help.
Equal second on the list, with 44% voting for them, are support with building confidence to move into a new role or chances to job shadow other roles you might be interested in. Access to online courses for a career change was ticked by 30% of respondents.
In other words, if you as an employer have developmental and training opportunities within your workplace, you’re probably three-quarters of the way there.
Popular Sectors People Want to Work In
For those who need to leave the sector they’re currently working within – either for physical reasons or the wish to have more flexibility than can be offered, we asked what sector most closely resembles the industry they would like to get into.
As with the sectors they currently work in, there was a spread: both environmental and agriculture, and creative art and design scored 13%; charity and voluntary work 11%; teaching and education, and business, consulting and management both scored 6%.
What Older Workers are Asking For
There we have it, people with experience who are keen to learn new things, anxious to make a difference in the world and aren’t greedy. All they’re asking for is a bit of flexibility and an employer who’s got the nous not to discriminate. So, what’s holding employers back?
