The retirees heading back to work
Neil retired in September. Age 70 and from Norfolk, he was deputy manager of a motor factor business, supplying car parts and accessories to garages. After working since he was 17, and deferring retirement for six years, he had decided it was finally time.
But barely a month had passed before Neil (who does not wish to share his last name) realised the sums did not add up. The state pension would not cover the cost of rent, energy bills, groceries and other outgoings. Before long, he was back looking for a job.
Alongside his money worries, he also missed being around people. “There are serious financial concerns of course, but I mostly miss the social aspect of work. I used to work for a happy team of people with a lot of banter,” he says. Now he’s looking for a part-time job in sales, something he says he is really good at. “Exceptional customer service” is what he has always been about.
“Employers are still not trying to take advantage of what this demographic can bring,” Andrews says, adding that many workplaces do not have cultures that make room for older staff and show they are valued. Andrews also highlights that recruitment drives and the language used in job ads are also largely focused on hiring younger workers, and many employers — despite the pandemic — are not fully flexible in how staff may work. Companies often do not offer support for people — of any age — with health conditions, she adds, and workers aged 50 and over are the least likely to receive “off the job” training, impacting their ability to keep up to date with new skills and gain further employment.
Older workers often get caught in the “ableism and ageism nexus”, Andrews says, and in turn older employees internalise some of these features, taking a massive hit to their confidence.
Thomas Roulet, an associate professor in organisation theory at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, says there is still a “stigma” when it comes to hiring older workers. While a multigenerational organisation can be highly creative, it can also increase conflict.
“Both younger and older generations have prejudice against each other — older workers believe millennials are entitled and expect everything from their employer and an immediate pay-off. Younger workers believe older ones had it easy, and are incapable of adapting to new trends,” says Roulet.
Yet the reality is that millennials and older generations actually share the same motivational drivers and career goals. While older workers do not want special treatment, they do want to be on a level peg with younger staff.
Colin Serlin, who is 76, says older people need to think differently about how they work. After 40 years in the property business he took a masters degree in psychotherapy and will soon set up his own practice — The Unretiring — offering courses to the recently retired, developed in conjunction with therapists and academics. “People get bored, depressed and even more seriously ill as they don’t know what to do with themselves. I’m hoping to change that,” he says.
“People need to have a more entrepreneurial stance. Either to do something on their own or be a so-called ‘intrepreneur’ within a bigger organisation,” he added. “When individuals were in their twenties and thirties they often were led down a particular path. The main thing now is to re-evaluate what they want out of life.
“They need to just have a different mindset.”
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Anjli Raval
