Employers commit to ‘jobs for all ages’ in pledge letter

A number of business leaders have pledged to  invest in methods to tackle  demographic change. Seventeen employers from various sectors including care, housing and finance, have signed an open letter promising “to help make our ageing society and economy more sustainable”.

“Without action, our ageing society poses a risk to the UK economy and our business,” the letter continues.

Many companies are currently facing ‘critical’ skills shortages, the employers claim, and warn that the problem would get worse if employers failed to implement age-friendly policies to retain and attract older workers.

“A healthy workforce will be a vital part of addressing the UK productivity puzzle as our society ages” the tellet goes onto explain.

“Reviews of pay equity across comparable jobs across age bands, age discrimination checks, training targeted at older workers and line manager training are still only offered by a handful of employers,” commented Fiona Dunsire, UK market leader at Mercer, one of the letters signatories.

“Employers need to be doing more to develop corporate policies that allow their business to tap into this talent pool,” she continued.