Over the last few months, what I believe is a very innovative idea in attracting people over 50 back into the workplace, has been developing in Gloucestershire.
And it’s really very simple.
The 50/50 initiative has been designed to give people over 50 the same number of hours - 50 - as a free work placement so they can get the feel of working again.
We hatched the 50/50 idea at a business sector group of our local enterprise partnership - GFirstLEP.
As an editor of a daily newspaper in Gloucestershire 15 years ago, I launched a similar idea to get firms to take on apprentices. We called it 100 in 100 Days, and it was so successful that we ran it twice in a year.
Gloucestershire County Council’s Employment and Skills Hub took up the challenge of making 50/50 work with real enthusiasm, and as I write 41 employers in the county have signed a pledge to become involved.
Five of these employers have already hosted a placement. These are not big numbers at the moment but there is a growing interest from companies and organisations such as councils—not just here but in other parts of the country.
The importance of the Over 50's returning to work, is I believe, an important factor in the challenge of raising productivity and economic growth.
There are some worrying estimates for Gloucestershire from the Annual Population Survey.
They suggest that somewhere in the region of 16.3% of the working population (aged 16-64) were “economically inactive” in the county during October 2022 - September 2023.
Economic inactivity is defined as “people not in employment who have not been seeking work within the last four weeks and/or unable to start work within the next two weeks”.
This high level of economic inactivity is a big challenge to growth, productivity and the potential shortage of skills in some industries.
Covid and its aftermath have had a devastating effect on our Over 50's with many deciding not to continue to work.
Vikki Walters, who leads Gloucestershire County Council’s Employment and Skills Hub, tells me: “During the Covid pandemic many people over 50 made a life choice to potentially leave work. But then, other factors like the cost of living, have got them considering a return to work. However, they may not want to do the same job they have done in the past and their health may not allow them to do that anyway.”
Confidence to change is a big problem too with these returners as many may have been in the same job for 25-30 years.
“We aim to help employers see that these Over 50s have incredible skills and talents they can bring to their workplace,” Vikki commented.
This is a commendable initiative managed by a team who really care.
*Ian Mean MBE is Gloucestershire director of Business West and vice chair of GFirstLEP. He is a former editor of the Western Daily Press and editor in chief of Gloucestershire Media.