With rising unemployment among the over-50s, Edward Simpson believes now is the time for firms to keep a grip on experienced employees
Barely a week goes by at the moment without another firm announcing a wave of planned redundancies. While losing your job is a traumatic experience at any stage in life, it is often those who have been in the profession the longest who are hit the hardest and find it most difficult to get back into work. The declining value of pensions has combined with other lifestyle factors, such as having children later in life, to mean that more and more of the baby-boomer generation need to work beyond 60. Indeed, many professionals in their 60s feel they have more to give and want to keep on working: a recent survey on behalf of Standard Life reported that 42% of 46-65-year-olds want to continue working beyond their official retirement age.
