Work and Learning in Later Life: the role of training

Centre for Research into the Older Workforce

Work and Learning in Later Life: the role of training

Stephen McNairAssociate Director (Older Learners)Director (CROW)


Outline

• Why should we care about the older workforce? (50 yrs +)

• What we know about the older workforce in the UK• The Learning and Work in Later Life study• Next steps – a research opportunity?


Why should we care about the older workforce?


Why should we care?

• Demography – rising life expectancy and low fertility• Deteriorating old age support ratio

(UK 3.9 now – 2.5 in 2041)• Loss of talent – experience is worth money• Legal changes - age discrimination law, abolition of

mandatory retirement• Raising of State Pension Ages (66 in 2020, 67 in 2026)• More older people are working• Many older people have choice


What we know about the older workforce in the UK


The older workforce

• The labour market “freezes” after 50• It is becoming easier to stay longer in an existing job, but no easier

to return after a break• Many organisations have no older workers• After 50 the workforce is increasingly: female, in large

organisations, in the public sector• After 60 the workforce is

– divided between high qualified professional, and elementary occupations , with s pronounced gender split

– part time and self employed


Staying longer in work: attitudes and motivation

• Most older people like work and want to stay longer• Many want flexibility, some want phased retirement• Some want progression and new challenges• Older people are motivated to work by:

– Interest in the job– Status and respect from colleagues, employers and the wider

community– Social engagement– Finance– A sense of purpose and structure to life


Returning to work

• Those least likely to successfully return to work are:– Older– With lower qualifications– With a health problem or disability– With a partner/spouse not in employment– Worked previously in a declining industry or sector

• High qualifications increase employability, – but the main benefit comes from qualifications gained in early career. – it is not clear that acquiring qualifications in later life produces similar

returns.


The older workforce: two models

• A dynamic force contributing to innovation and growth• A marginal group filling short term gaps in the labour

supply


The learning and work in later life study


Training and work in later life: what do we need to know?

• How does the nature of the labour market change with age?• Why does participation in training decline with age, and is this a

problem?• Whose fault is it?• Do we need to encourage more training for older people?• What might change the current pattern?


What we did: the Learning & Work in Later Life study• review of relevant academic and policy literature • review of existing national datasets:

– LFS, WERS, ELSA, SEPP, NALS, NIACE• national Omnibus survey (15,000 individuals 18+), to examine the

relationship between individuals’ perceptions of skill, and their experience of training

• secondary analysis of qualitative data from previous CROW projects– DTI, DWP, ESF/HE

• secondary analysis of quantitative data collected as part of the DWP’s Survey of Employer Preferences and Practices relating to age. (2090 employers)


Is there a skills problem?

• Most employers do not report a problem• Most older workers think that their skills are “about right”, especially

women and full-timers• A third think that they are overqualified , especially more highly

qualified, and in administration, sales, customer services, machine and plant operatives

• The number reporting “very overqualified” rises from 50-70 yrs• Self-employed especially likely to report “very overqualified”


Who trains?• Participation is level from 25-55, then falls (a new pattern)• Decline is across all forms of learning• Age gap larger in private sector and low training sectors• Training more likely for women, highly qualified, high status

occupations, higher social class, and full-time employees• Training more likely for the overskilled• Almost no one reports refusing training• The employers and older employees who train are positive about it• Average length of training falls with age, but volume of short training

is constant• Employees and employers both prefer short, focused training


What organisations train older workers

• Larger• Public sector• High concentration of professional/managerial staff• High proportion of female employees


Possible reasons for not training

• Low return, perceived or real• Poor management; - “conspiracy to underperform” between workers

and line managers• Overvaluing formal qualifications at the expense of experiential

learning.• Underestimating of risk and future needs


Attitudes to training

• Employers train to rectify performance and to prepare for promotion (both potentially age related)

• Location of training decisions varies by sector• Employers more likely to support older workers than younger ones• Employee attitudes contradictory (encouraged to develop their skills,

but believe that employers prioritise younger people)• Employers find long serving employees most resistant to training• Arrival of IT has changed attitudes to training generally• Few (employers or employees) think training helps older people to

re-enter the labour market (though some employees think qualifications will help)


Training fits with motivation to work if it:

• is intrinsically interesting, and makes the job more so; • strengthens the status of the individual with his or her workmates of

the wider community;• increases the sense of control over one’s life; • builds social networks among learners, especially perhaps if there is

some prospect of these relationships continuing beyond retirement;• builds bridges between the world of work and post-retirement life.


Training does not fit if it is

• imposed by the employer (who features less in the individual’s long term plans as retirement approaches);

• imposed by some external body on a worker who has been doing the job for a long time (especially if that body is seen as uninformed by real practice and years of experience);

• seen as a criticism of the individual’s competence (especially for long serving employees who have not trained much in the past, or who have problems with basic skills) ;

• likely to lead to isolation of lack of status in the workplace or the wider community.


Influences on training

• Workplace culture• Perceived career stage• Past job mobility• Evident need• Cost effectiveness• Full-time status


How to change practice

• Convince employees of the need to train • Promote the idea of career progression after 50• Ensure access to training for part-time workers• Improve management, and especially review/appraisal


Key findings• Older workforce is distinct in profile and motivation, although

individual diversity is great• Most older workers think their skills are adequate• Satisfaction with skills rises with age• With increasing age, a growing minority report that they are

seriously overqualified• The decline in learning is real• In most cases, neither employers nor employees see a need to train• Employees and employers who train think it has benefits• There is strong resistance to long courses • The evidence is unclear on real demand for qualifications


Policy implications

• Diversity not stereotypes• Promote positive models of career development• Raise awareness of career risk• Improve articulation of policy at national level – esp. DWP/BIS• Support research on costs and benefits• Support training for the lowest qualified in early 50s• Encourage better appraisal processes• Promote investment in older workers to employers


Some further research questions

• Costs and benefits of investment in training older workers

• Segmenting the older workforce• Understanding how older people manage work-life

balance• Tailoring training and work experience for unemployed• Understanding communication/appraisal/review

processes for older workers• Understanding flexible working options and strategies


Next Steps?


“Now you are 50, what are you going to do with the next 20 years”

• Mid-life career review (around 50yrs)• Pilot, funded by Government• Target 2500 interviews , mainly through National Careers

Service• Questions:

– Is there demand?– What are the issues?– What are the best models for delivery?

• An academic research opportunity?

Centre for Research into the Older Workforce 27

NIACE: www.niace.org.ukCROW: www.olderworkforce.org.uk

[email protected]

A sense of a future http://shop.niace.org.uk/lwll-full-report.html

Older People’s Learning in 2012: a surveyhttp://shop.niace.org.uk/older-peoples-learning-2012.html

Work and Learning in Later Life: the role of training

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