DEMOGRAPHICS
Employers urged to prepare for ageing workforce
UK employers need to prepare for an ageing workforce as three-quarters of employees anticipate working beyond the age of 65, warns Aon Consulting.
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Aon Consulting’s research found:
Only an estimated one million employees are currently working past state pension age but this is expected to treble amongst people aged 65 to 70 by 2017.
A quarter of respondents would carry on working past the official retirement age simply because they wanted to, whereas 53% believe it will be necessary to increase their pension.
Regionally, Newcastle workers were most committed to topping up their pension (57%) while less than half (49%) of Scottish employees were least willing to carrying on working to achieve this.
UK employers need to address the new risks posed by an ageing workforce, says Aon Consulting.
Motivation
Aon Consulting found that 53% of those aged 65 and over were only continuing to work in order to boost their pensions. It comments: “With this mindset, employees could be resentful about their need to continue working, which is not conducive to good job performance. Employers will need to focus on maintaining motivation by ensuring that older workers are given interesting and fulfilling jobs and full access to the training they need.”
A final word
“An ageing workforce is inevitable with an estimated three million people likely to be working beyond their retirement age within ten years time. This could be a huge benefit to organisations, so long as the key challenges are tackled sooner rather than later. Businesses used to think that older workers could not drive companies forward but this old fashioned attitude needs to shift.
Age should not be seen as a barrier. There is a vast pool of mentally agile people, with great work and life experience over the age of 60 and industries will be missing a trick if they do not capitalise on their productive potential. Effective performance management will be the key discipline in making an ageing workforce into a competitive advantage.” - Jon Beaumont, HR consultant at Aon Consulting.
Want to know more?
Aon Consulting is a “leading human capital consultancy, helping organisations of every size to attract and keep the employees they need”. It advises on all aspects of employment, including health-related insurance and risk; employee compensation and pensions; human resource strategy planning; job design and change management; and staff assessment and legal issues. To find out more visit www.aon.co.uk.