One of the workers featured in this article, Arthur Casey, died at the age of 96 in April 2004 only six weeks after retiring. The interview with him in 2001, in which he declared, "work keeps you going", stands here as a tribute to his indomitable spirit and, at a time when the British Government is considering abandoning compulsory retirement, to the social value of flexible employment policies.

Wrinkle power is here to stay

Words and pictures by Mike Harrison, November 2001
First published in First Voice magazine

Older workers could save the UK economy and perhaps your business too. That’s what the Government believes and it plans to back the idea with tough new legislation outlawing age discrimination.

Today the economy would be 10 percent larger if over-50 employment had remained at 1979 levels - according to figures produced by Lombard Street Research. At that time 84 percent of men over 50 were working; by 2000 it had fallen to 69 percent. Over two-thirds of the population now leave work before reaching an official retirement age and begin to draw pension income or benefits.

The UK Government - like many others - sees an age-bomb ticking away in the economy. Life expectancy increases one more year every four years. Eventually the cost of benefits and state pensions will outstrip the country’s ability to pay. A voluntary code of practice on age diversity was publicised in 1999 but few employers took any notice. As a result the Government has said it intends to bring in new legislation by the end of 2006. Drafting won’t be complete until 2003 but it is expected that fixed retirement ages will become illegal, along with covert age discrimination in recruitment and job advertising such as references to joining ‘a dynamic and energetic team’.

Small businesses - whose good record on ageism sets an example to larger ones - will be consulted through the Small Business Service.

The case for older workers

A slim but compelling report produced last year for the Industrial Society, Experience Necessary, argues that the unexpected willingness of older people to take on new challenges and adapt to new ways of working makes them highly effective workers in the new economy. The author, Charlotte Thorne says, “Over the next few years, successful businesses will lead the way in reassessing the value of age”.

Thorne believes that older workers with fewer demands on their finances can provide a flexible, dependable, cost effective resource. The stay-cool attitude of sixty-something John Sangster (see box) characterises a new generation of older executives changing careers.

There is growing evidence that individual businesses may pay a price for letting older employees go. W H Smith reported cost savings of £800,000 a year when it adopted an age-diversity policy. An experimental store set up by B&Q and staffed entirely by people over 50 reported 18 percent more profit, 39 percent less absenteeism and 59 percent less shrinkage.

Many smaller businesses already take the value of older workers for granted. A significant proportion began as post-retirement or post-redundancy ventures, or as family firms like Ormiston Wire in West London (see box). This company takes the view that so long as an employee is doing a useful job, there’s no reason to ask questions about race, gender, age or any other personal characteristic.

Retaining the investment

Western countries depend more and more on the knowledge of their workforces. Firms plough back increasing amounts of profit on training, or fork out higher salaries to entice those already trained elsewhere. When a worker retires, that investment walks out the door with them.

And retirement doesn’t make sense to every employee. Many go straight from their leaving party to another job, to an employment agency, or to set up their own business. ‘Retiring’ managers discover the benefits of interim management roles - short or medium term contracts to help fix a problem or develop an idea. A few move on to non-executive directorships or consultancy roles. If you had trained and employed them for years, you might wonder why you let them go.

A few big firms are beginning to question retirement. For example, in October, Marks and Spencer abolished its mandatory retirement policy. Employees will be free to continue work into their sixties and beyond, and to take all or part of their company pension while earning a salary. M&S’ executive responsible for policy support, Mark Watson admitted to First Voice: “We had allowed so many exemptions to the retirement rule, anyway. We never tolerated discrimination - now that includes age. But the new arrangement does mean we have to use the appraisal system much more systematically to spot people who are not performing”.

The Campaign Director for the Employers Forum on Age, Sam Mercer agrees that the key to a no-ageism policy in any organisation is improved staff appraisal: “No employer can afford to keep anyone of any age who isn’t performing”. She cites the period of ‘coasting’ that many employers once tolerated during the two- or three-year run-up to a conventional retirement and adds, “Companies of all sizes need to get a lot more flexible about performance management and in the options they offer employees as they age. You have to look at the ability of the individual and not the age”.

It could be that rethinking retirement will lead the UK’s businesses to reconsider what they want from their staff. If that leads to an overall improvement in efficiency it will be worth the pain.

Footnote

John Sangster has moved on from Anderton's to another job in a property-related field. For fuller information about the employment policies of Arthur Casey's former employers, Ormiston Wire, visit their web site.

© Mike Harrison 2002/2004

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