Member Article

Employers urged to retain older workers

Food and drink manufacturers in the North East are being urged to introduce more flexible working to help retain older workers.

New research commissioned by Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, shows that shorter hours, working from home and self employment, are more likely to entice employees aged 55 and over to remain in their jobs. 19% of over-55’s in the sector are already in part-time employment.

“With the sector experiencing continued difficulty in recruiting younger workers, employers must make retention of older staff a priority,” explained David Hickman, Improve’s operations manager in the North East. “There are 56,000 workers expected to retire from the food and drink manufacturing sector over the next eight years, possibly over 1,500 in the North East alone, but at the current levels of recruitment there won’t be enough new starters to fill the vacancies this creates. This will result in skills shortages, with not enough workers to do the jobs, and skills gaps, as the knowledge of these older, experienced workers is lost. “Our research suggests that many older workers want to continue working, but also want to enjoy more leisure time. It’s clear that in order to maximise productivity and benefit from the expertise of older workers, employers have to find ways to become more flexible.”

The new employment discrimination laws mean that people can no longer be forced to retire once they reach 65. A copy of the report, “Investigation into the impact of an ageing workforce on the UK food and drink manufacturing industry” can be downloaded from www.improveltd.co.uk.

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