“Calm before the storm” for older workers says Chief Executive

Labour market figures published today by the Office for National Statistics show that the number of people in work between the ages of 50 and 64 dropped by 11,000 in the last quarter.

Redundancy rates also show that, in the second quarter of 2010, redundancies were higher among the over-50s than any other age group.

Older women bore the brunt of the rise in unemployment among the 50 to 64 age group, with 17,000 losing their jobs.

The proportion of people between the ages of 50 and 64 claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for 12 months or more continues to be the highest for any age group. Despite a drop in the last month, unemployment for over 12 months has risen by 56 per cent in the past year for this age group.

TAEN – The Age and Employment Network argue that these figures show the difficulties older people face in the labour market and the need for dedicated support for them.

Chris Ball, Chief Executive of TAEN, says:

“While the headlines will show a drop in overall unemployment, today’s figures show the continuing struggle that older people face in the labour market and the challenges ahead to keep people in work for longer.

“With more job cuts predicted, today’s redundancy figures are deeply concerning. The last thing older workers need now is a return to previous recessions when they were seen as easy targets for job losses. Many of those never worked again. This could be the calm before the storm for 50+ workers.

“With the Government calling time on the default retirement age and moving to speed up the increase in the state pension age, more simply must be done to address the problem of unemployment in the 50+ age group.

“Working longer cannot become a reality if older people are being forced out of their jobs and employers remain unwilling to hire them. The Government cannot have it both ways.”