Britons over 50 are paying the heaviest price for Labour’s overhaul of workers’ rights, with the number of older jobseekers unable to find work rising by 22 per cent from 2023, according to the latest figures.
Just shy of a million workers age 50 and older are locked out of the labor market, the latest Labor Force Survey data shows, with the age group consistently registering the highest layoff rates of the entire workforce.
There are about 917,000 people between the ages of 50 and 66 who cannot find a job, rising to 996,743 if we include those aged 66 to 70, most of whom are willing to work despite being eligible for a government pension.
Industry leaders have strongly blamed the Department of Employment Rights Act and the Chancellor’s increase in employer National Insurance (NICs), saying the combined costs have made firms more wary of hiring new people, especially the more experienced and therefore more expensive.
“Older workers, who are likely to earn more than their Gen Z counterparts, have struggled with businesses reassessing their recruitment strategies,” said Kevin Fitzgerald, UK managing director of careers platform Employment Hero.
Alex Hall-Chen of the Institute of Directors echoed the concerns, pointing to the Employment Rights Act, rising employers’ NICs and successive increases to the minimum wage as a triple blow that has reduced employer appetite for risk.
Although the Act’s provisions apply to workers of all ages, several measures disproportionately affect older workers in practice. The reduction in the payout ratio for successful wrongful dismissal claims is widely expected to be more severe in cases involving the over-50s, who tend to pay higher wages and whose court awards are often calculated as multiples of wages.
The Act’s extended right to request changes in hours or location, especially when employees are dealing with health conditions or care responsibilities – is likely to be used more often by workers in their 50s and 60s, many of whom are supporting elderly parents or managing their own long-term conditions.
Compounding the picture are structural shifts beyond Westminster’s control. The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence in all white-collar roles and the lingering hangover from the post-Covid job slump have put together mid- to senior-level positions that older workers traditionally relied on.
Lyndsey Simpson, founder of career coaching platform 55/Redefined, said the downward spiral of losing a senior or high-paying role in your 50s can be devastating and long-lasting.
“That’s why people ‘scrape age’ on their CVs. They remove dates, hide their roles and downplay the position because they know age can work against them before they get an interview,” she said.
Dr Andrea Barry of the Center for Aging Better warned that the scale of the crisis for older workers is now comparable to the much-discussed plight of young people not in education, employment or training (Neets), yet it receives little attention.
“The government is right to invest in solutions to the current problem of youth employment, but the labor market is in crisis for both age groups and to the same extent,” he said.
For SME employers who are already faced with rising payroll costs, tightening court appearances and the prospect of further regulations, the temptation to play it safe in the employment sector is proving hard to resist, and it is Britain’s most experienced workers who bear the cost.
