A third (33%) of employer respondents provide support, training or guidance for managers on dealing with age diversity, according to research by the Centre for Ageing Better.
Its survey of 500 UK employers also found that 24% of respondents think their organisation is unprepared to accommodate an ageing workforce.
The research also found:
- 20% of respondents state that the ageing workforce is being discussed strategically in their workplace.
- 20% of respondents have faced challenges with managing age diversity at work.
- 12% of respondents have dealt with older employees feeling uncomfortable working under younger managers, compared to 10% who have dealt with younger employees being uncomfortable having an older manager.
Patrick Thomson, lead on age-friendly employment at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “The UK workforce is changing and employers need to catch up. Improving policy and practice, tackling age bias and creating an age-friendly workplace culture is vital to ensuring that [employees] can work for as long as they want to. Employers who don’t make these changes will be left behind. This matters for older [employees], and younger [employees], who mostly expect to work longer than their parents. Without changes to our workplaces, more and more of us will face worse working lives as we age.”
