Challenge bias & assumptions
It’s common to find bias against older workers, including assumptions around the use of technology, and levels of illness and absence. The data suggests that older workers are just as keen to learn, and that while overall absence due to illness is higher, it is primarily related to long-term conditions, while younger workers are more likely to report short-term illnesses.
Personalise your approach to retirement planning
While the state pension age is a significant consideration, every employee's journey will be different. Employers should take care to engage employees in a collaborative approach, which avoids assumptions on when and how an employee retires. While many will look forward to their newfound freedom, others may wish to continue working well past the traditional retirement age. Many may find a transitional path into retirement more helpful than a cliff edge.
Encourage Lifelong Learning & Development
Continuous investment in upskilling, reskilling, and knowledge-sharing programmes keeps older workers relevant—and boosts retention and innovation. Regular check-ins with employees of all ages should include discussions around learning and development to ensure they are supported to progress and gain new skills.
Offer flexibility
Offering employees flexibility can enable them to stay in the workforce longer. Employers can maximise this approach by providing a personalised approach to work-life balance that takes into account managing personal health issues and familial caring responsibilities. Offering phased retirements, reduced hours, and hybrid work helps retain expertise and eases transitions for both workers and the business.
Support healthy living
Health problems are the main reason why older workers leave the workforce prematurely. Nearly half a million people aged 50 to 65 with long-term health conditions would return to the workforce if the proper support were in place. This includes mental as well as physical health, support for chronic conditions and those going through the menopause. Flexibility, health insurance provision and approach to stress management and mental health can all be helpful here.
Plan for Succession
The cornerstone of business continuity in the face of demographic change is succession planning, particularly in critical roles. An effective process identifies and develops both internal and external talent pipelines, ensures knowledge transfer, and minimises business disruption.
"Succession planning plays a crucial role in ensuring business continuity... As experienced people approach retirement, businesses must ensure they have a clear roadmap to develop talent and transfer knowledge."
Read our in-depth Succession Planning Guide for practical steps and strategies.
Broaden your Talent Search
Research from Mercer, PwC, and the CIPD consistently highlights that organisations with robust age-inclusive recruitment outperform peers in adapting to skill shortages and market changes.
Leverage Talent Intelligence
Sophisticated talent intelligence can future-proof your workforce strategy:
- Competitor mapping: Understand how others are addressing demographic risk and age diversity. Track rival recruitment and retention successes.
- Location planning: Identify regions with favourable demographics or skills clusters to optimise hiring and workforce deployment.
- Total offer benchmarking: Ensure your reward and benefits packages are competitive across all age brackets to attract and retain critical talent.
Reliable data sources include Gartner, Harvard Business Review, Accenture, the National Office of Statistics, and more—enabling evidence-based decisions that minimise risk.
Facilitate knowledge transfer
Older workers, particularly those with long tenure, often have critical skills that are hard to replace. Identifying these skills and engaging those employees in becoming part of the knowledge transfer minimises risk and can help reduce the costs of replacing these skills in the organisation.
