An ageing workforce is reshaping graduate and trainee schemes
We all know older people are increasingly likely to be working beyond what used to be retirement age – the number of over-65s in employment increased 5.8 per cent in the year to October 2014. But the rise in older workers has had some more subtle effects on ‘normal’ working roles: in particular, the make-up of apprenticeship and graduate schemes.
There are currently more than 2,400 apprentices aged 60 or over, according to the Office for National Statistics, six times more than in 2009. And more than a third of apprentices are older than 25 when they start their scheme. Recruiters report that graduate schemes are beginning to attract large numbers of second-jobbers.
Increasing career longevity is prompting many to rethink their skillsets, and in some cases their entire profession. Starting afresh on an apprenticeship or graduate scheme may be the best way to reboot your career: a 2014 survey by Aldi found that 21.5 per cent of people would be willing to start over in an entry level position to get their career on track.
“Older people often have outdated skills, and the workplace is changing so rapidly nowadays that ongoing re-skilling or career change is vital to a productive working life,” says Ros Altmann, the government’s older workers’ employment champion. “Over-50s need and want to stay in work, but if the career they’ve followed for decades becomes obsolete, or they are made redundant and have insufficient up-to-date skills, apprenticeships can give them a whole new lease of working life.”
“Older applicants to our graduate programme tend to fall into three groups,” says Tricia Driver, head of graduate and apprentice recruitment at IT services company Capgemini. “First, we see older people who have had a previous career and want to retrain. The second group are those who have graduated but taken some time deciding what they want to do. The third are those who have spent considerable time in further education before embarking on a career outside the academic arena.”
Formal graduate recruitment schemes are seeing a similar trend. “We’ve found more and more employers offering those who may have graduated five or more years ago equal opportunities as more recent graduates,” says Chantelle Barton, engagement marketing executive for Milkround.
These changing demographics bring challenges. In October, the BBC reported that job site Reed had more than 800 listings for ‘recent graduates’ and even some for ‘young graduates’. And then there is the open-mindedness required when older people take junior roles – and vice versa.
It can all be overcome with common sense, says Deb Lee, chief learning officer at BT, which hires older workers into its graduate schemes. “Having somebody work for a manager who is younger than themselves is quite normal, particularly in parts of our business where we have an incredibly experienced workforce.”