In a tight skills market where competition for talent is high, businesses are looking further and wider to access the people they need to fill the gaps in their workforce.
Fishing in other industries for transferable skills may seem an appealing option, but there’s already a queue of organisations chasing the same pool of people with the latest technical ability and knowledge.
However, there is another source of talent you may not have considered. They’re hiding in plain sight and are frequently overlooked – the Untapped Workforce.
This is a significant pool of jobseekers that could provide a source of talent to fill your skills gap, and it includes three distinct groups of people; the Returners, the Restarters, and the Reinvigorators.
In this second installment of our series, we look at a growing section of the workforce who have previously retired but are coming back to work. We’re calling them the Restarters.
Restarters
Employees in their 50s are increasingly leaving the workforce through early retirement. This has been growing each year since 2020, with an overall increase of 25% in the last decade.
The Guardian newspaper asked their retiring readers for the reasons behind their decision. Many of them said that the pandemic had played a role. It was, for some, an opportunity to re-evaluate quality of life and time to assess priorities.
But, nearly 4 years later, inflation and an uncertain economy is driving some of these people back to the workforce. With an increasingly ageing population, healthier than in previous generations, there are also those who retired at the first opportunity, but now feel they still have the energy and desire to work. We are now seeing a rise in what has been dubbed ‘unretirement’.
The Benefits of Hiring Restarters
Hiring someone with a long career history behind them can potentially bring a new perspective and dynamic to your teams.
40 years of experience in the workplace cannot be matched, especially if someone has been on the same career path throughout their working life. Whether or not they worked their way up from a junior role, or graduated straight into management, they will have years of knowing what has worked for them before and what has not. They are less likely to make a mistake because they’ve probably seen it made before. Not only that, but a career in the industry will have provided them with a network of contacts and suppliers they trust.
At this stage in a restarter’s career, it’s unlikely they’ll be looking for progression. They probably won’t be searching the market for better offers, either. They’re more likely to be reliable and constant in the role they return to, and will stay with you until they are ready to retire again. Keeping an open, honest discourse with them about their thoughts on retirement will give you as an employer plenty of time to plan for their eventual replacement.
These people have opted to return to the workplace. Not only are they choosing to work, they also know what they want and have probably cherry-picked the role(s) that interest them. Work ethic, therefore, is likely to be good.
Lastly, while a restarter may not want to take on a senior role, they are still in a position to provide leadership skills, even in an informal way, to younger members of the team. Nurturing younger people is something they may have significant experience of, both professionally and privately, and will have lots of advice and encouragement to offer. Colleagues are less likely to see them as direct competitors for higher roles, so they can help with team building and cohesion.
What businesses are doing to encourage Restarters
Businesses are already reaping the benefits of hiring previously retired colleagues, and others are following suit by making their companies fit to meet the needs of this experienced generation.
Almost a quarter of John Lewis’s workforce is now aged over 56. The organisation allows employees to work flexibly on reduced hours around caring responsibilities.
Travel and insurance firm Saga has a Grandparents’ Leave policy, allowing employees a week of paid leave to celebrate the birth of a grandchild.
In automotive
Halfords announced in 2022 that they were launching a recruitment drive for 1,000 new technicians, stating: “In particular, we are hoping to attract retirees back into the workforce, as well as increasing the number of women in technician roles.” They called this their Retyrement Plan, providing greater flexibility in roles, including part-time working, providing opportunities for older people to complete apprenticeships, of which they were able to take on an apprentice in his seventies, and establishing a training academy focussing on digital skills.
Creating incentive packages for older workers, with benefits focussed around healthcare and pensions, and the opportunity to continue learning with reskilling and upskilling opportunities for anyone who may have been out of the workforce for a few years, could be tempting when returners are considering their options. Flexible working options, such as those mentioned in the examples above, and opportunities for hybrid and remote could widen the talent pool further. With consideration for the needs of older workers, there’s no reason why you can’t lure some very talented individuals out of retirement to add value to your business.
For more information on sourcing new pools of talent, take a look at what our Intelligence team can offer.
