Redundancy rates soar amongst over 50s

Redundancies amongst the over 50s have increased by 195% in a year, according to new analysis.

The analysis by the website Rest Less shows there were 107,000 over 50s made redundant between November and January 2021 – an increase of more than 70,500 or 195% year on year.

And whilst redundancy levels in the UK have fallen from their peak, the fall has been slowest amongst the over 50s.

The redundancy rate of those over the age of 50 is now higher than all other age groups and currently stands at 12.8 per thousand employees, according to the analysis.

It also estimates there were early 1.3m over 50s on furlough at the end of February 2021 – or almost a third (28%) of the total furloughed workforce of 4.65m.

‘These figures show just how devastating the impact of the pandemic has been on over-50s, with over 100,000 made redundant between November and January alone,’ said the Centre for Ageing Better’s associate director – work, Kim Chaplain.

‘This is particularly worrying because we know that over 50s, are likely to struggle more than any other group to get back into work – so we risk seeing many of these people leaving the workforce for good.

‘In the months ahead, it’s vital that we build back a multigenerational workforce. Our economy needs both the direct contribution of experienced older workers and the support they provide to other, less experienced groups.

‘We need to see targeted employment support to help over-50s back to work, and a strong message from government that not only is this group just as entitled to work as younger workers, they also provide a valuable contribution we cannot afford to lose.’

Stuart Lewis, founder of Rest Less, added: ‘While there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the economy starting to open up, it’s clear that businesses are far from out of the woods yet, with many still struggling to survive and the level of redundancies remaining historically high.

‘Whilst the extra extension to the furlough scheme has stemmed the flow of redundancies for now, redundancy rates amongst the over 50s remain stubbornly high and are the highest of all age groups.’

Photo Credit – Centre for Ageing Better