Member Article

Employers urged to train older workers

Food and drink manufacturers in the North East are to be given advice and practical examples to promote the benefits of investing more in training their older workers. Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, has commissioned research to discover what practices leading employers already have in place to develop the skills of older workers, and will gather case studies that can be shared with other employers throughout the sector.

“Food and drink manufacturing is characterised by an aging workforce,” said David Hickman, Improve’s operations manager for the North East. “In this region it’s estimated that over 4,000 employees in food and drink manufacturing are aged between 45 and 64, but we believe that many employers overlook the opportunity to continue developing the skills of this group. “Older workers are generally highly experienced and often already highly skilled, but in many cases they could make an even more valuable contribution to productivity if they had the chance to learn new skills.”

The results of the study are expected by August, and will also be used to help employers understand how best to comply with new EU legislation on age discrimination, which comes into force in October. The new law will give employees the right to stay on at work past the age of 65, and require that employees of all ages have equal opportunities to continue learning, and developing their skills.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .