Aegon’s latest research suggests younger generations will be far better equipped with new skills making it easier for them to navigate the post-Covid job market.
The latest figures from the ONS suggest 673,000 people have lost their job since the beginning of the UK wide lockdown in March, while the Bank of England’s forecast that the level of joblessness could double to 7.5% by the end of the year. For many workers, high unemployment rates will push them out of current lines of work and into new ones as the economy restructures and rebuilds.
Lifelong learning is essential in keeping older workers job ready and making a flexible retirement a realistic aspiration. Yet, older workers do not get their fair share of reskilling and training opportunities. This is of particular concern to the 30% of over 55s that have been placed on the UK government job retention scheme who could face the ominous threat of ‘never working again’.
More than double the proportion of young workers, aged 18-34 say they receive training from their current employer for skills that would help them transition into a new line of work, compared with their peers older than 55. Over a third of those over 55 receive no training whatsoever to help keep their skills up to date.
Kate Smith, Head of Pensions at Aegon, comments: “Increased longevity means people have re-set their expectations and not only plan to work for much longer than previous generations, but base their retirement plans around a longer period of time in employment. For those workers approaching retirement, finding themselves unexpectedly out of work, or in a lower paid job can have a severe impact on their retirement savings.
“Covid-19 has shown how precarious the job market can be at times, but importantly underlines how important continuous development can be, from both a personal perspective and a career point of view. If we are to learn anything from this, it is that employers can play a key role in helping support workers of all ages keep their job skills up to date by providing access to opportunities for lifelong learning.
“Lifelong learning, and in particular, access to vocational skills training and retraining can help workers adapt to a changing job market and remain in the workforce as long as possible. This is particularly pertinent for older workers who once out of work, are twice as likely to be long term unemployed as younger workers
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