What happened to all the older workers?
Discussion
It occurred to me when I was in the office last week (IT/finance) that the number of working professionals younger than me (44) appears to vastly exceed those older than me. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if it was a 10:1 ratio of younger to older. The number of workers aged 50+ probably dwindles even more.
So, what happened to all of the older workers, e.g. the entire professional cohort that were older than me when I started working life ~20-25 years ago? Is this the 'missing worker' conundrum observed since Covid, with increasing numbers of older professionals retiring earlier, going part time, or switching career to something else entirely? If so I'm surprised at how pronounced it appears to be, albeit in my entirely anecdotal case.
Has anyone else mused on this?
So, what happened to all of the older workers, e.g. the entire professional cohort that were older than me when I started working life ~20-25 years ago? Is this the 'missing worker' conundrum observed since Covid, with increasing numbers of older professionals retiring earlier, going part time, or switching career to something else entirely? If so I'm surprised at how pronounced it appears to be, albeit in my entirely anecdotal case.
Has anyone else mused on this?
Only appears to be a very slight dip in the 50 to 64 bracket covid onwards.
Although they have always been a smaller percentage at work than the younger two groups.
Maybe very sector dependant and potentially more part time and WFH in that age bracket as they are more likely to be finically secure (speculating)
otolith said:
Smaller part of the working population, and a higher rate of non-employment.
Olivera said:
That graph is what I'd expect, slightly more younger workers than older (compared to myself). Again anecdotally this isn't what I see in a professional and well paid environment, that is numbers rapidly diminish, especially 50+.
You've got a 5:4 ratio between people younger than you to people older than you, and you then have a lower proportion of the older people in work. If you're in a well paid profession, the opportunity to retire early is greater. Could also be that your workplace doesn't pay senior people as competitively as it pays junior people, so they're buggering off to competitors as they get older - or that your corporate structure just doesn't have space for career progression of senior staff.GT3Manthey said:
Quite a few bolted after covid hit having worked out they hated being in an office and enjoyed their new found freedom.
For me it was IR35. I would be paying a lot more tax than someone on PAYE so decided it was time to stop handing the government the majority of my earnings.I'm now a drain on society
Good question, I am 49, work in IT and I am the oldest person in my office. I am really hoping I can afford to retire at 60, but I actually wonder if I will even have a job by then.
I have no idea where they have all gone, I got talking to a guy on a plane trip last year who used to work in IT and he decided to retire at 45. I worked with an older VB6 contractor back in around 2008 who would have been mid 50s at the time. He said this was his last contract and that he was going to retire now as he didn't want to learn anything new.
I can only assume one of the following 3 scenarios happen
1)They hate their jobs, do the maths and realise that they can retire early
2)They get made redundant, can't find another job and decide to retire
3)They get made redundant, can't find another job and end up doing something completely unrelated, possibly with the least amount of responsibility possible.
It's all very well the government telling us all we have to work until a minimum of 67, but what do you do if nobody will employ you?
I think the governments big Universal Basic Income experiment during Covid is the reason a lot of people in their 50s have decided to jack it all in. Whilst they were getting paid Furlough they realised there was more to live than working and they could survive on less money than they expected.
I have no idea where they have all gone, I got talking to a guy on a plane trip last year who used to work in IT and he decided to retire at 45. I worked with an older VB6 contractor back in around 2008 who would have been mid 50s at the time. He said this was his last contract and that he was going to retire now as he didn't want to learn anything new.
I can only assume one of the following 3 scenarios happen
1)They hate their jobs, do the maths and realise that they can retire early
2)They get made redundant, can't find another job and decide to retire
3)They get made redundant, can't find another job and end up doing something completely unrelated, possibly with the least amount of responsibility possible.
It's all very well the government telling us all we have to work until a minimum of 67, but what do you do if nobody will employ you?
I think the governments big Universal Basic Income experiment during Covid is the reason a lot of people in their 50s have decided to jack it all in. Whilst they were getting paid Furlough they realised there was more to live than working and they could survive on less money than they expected.
It's a perfect storm of a larger number of older-mid aged people being able to capitalise on what were incredibly generous pensions back in the late 80s and 90s and benefiting from inheritance to much higher levels than have been seen previously. The end terrance ex-council house they grew up in is now worth £0.5m which when added to a decent final salary pensions and a paid-off mortgage means they can remove themselves from the workplace and lead a prosperous life whilst doing diddly squat.
I've yet to determine if this is a good thing (for society) or not. One the one hand you're loosing experience. But on the other, it forces innovative thinking unencumbered from a 'we don't do things like that' mentality that can prevail amongst the older generation.
I've yet to determine if this is a good thing (for society) or not. One the one hand you're loosing experience. But on the other, it forces innovative thinking unencumbered from a 'we don't do things like that' mentality that can prevail amongst the older generation.
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