Press Releases

Skilled, over 45 and don't go clubbing? You're sure to find a job

Miles Brignall
Tuesday August 15, 2006
The Guardian

Older workers who are prepared to be flexible and have some transferable skills should have no problems finding work, according to Barry Badham.

The director of Dinosaurs Unlimited, a recruitment agency which specialises in helping the over-45s find work, said that contrary to the report's findings, it was becoming "easier and easier" to place mature workers.

The company, which was set up in 2001 to help workers who had been made redundant by big companies, now has two sites in Birmingham and Malvern.

It has up to 4,000 older workers on its books, of which 20-30% are actively looking for work at any one time.

"I saw the [TUC] report and I don't know where they got their figures. I think there's been a real sea change in employer's attitudes to older workers in recent years as they realise the benefits they offer.

"Increasingly employers are looking to take on an older member of staff who can act as a mentor to help guide some of the younger, up-and-coming members of the team. They're often seen as a safe pair of hands."

Most of the full-time jobs his company recruits for tend to be management positions, but he also offers jobs in call centres and a variety of other positions at various levels of pay.

"Older workers who are prepared to be flexible and have the right attitude will have no problems finding work. If they want a job, there is work out there, but they do need those attributes. I can see that poorly educated, blue-collar workers who have only done one thing all their lives could struggle."

He also reports that employers are increasingly fed up with younger members of staff who only want to party.

"Employers are always complaining to me about staff who come in late on Mondays and spend all morning telling colleagues how drunk they got over the weekend.

"Mature workers generally aren't out clubbing every night. They turn up and get on with the job."

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

Why age is a state of mind

Prejudice against job applicants over 50 is rife, but youngsters face discrimination too. With the EU employment directive still two years off, Emma Lunn looks at the advantages and pitfalls of experience

Monday January 10, 2005       The Guardian    Copyright 2005 Guardian Unlimited

If you are aged between 35 and 40, then lucky you; you are at the prime age to submit a successful job application. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development says people only have these five years in their entire working lives when they are deemed neither too young nor too old for a job. The CIPD evidence, endorsed by similar findings from the Department for Work and Pensions, also finds that although age prejudice is much worse for people over 40, one in 12 under-35s has been deemed too young to be considered. Twice this number believe they have been rejected for being too young, but have no evidence.

Leisure centre manager Julia Mainwright, 23, took almost a year to get a job after graduating with a degree in leisure management. "I think they felt I was too young to be in charge of a facility and manage staff, even though I had studied it at university for three years and had plenty of work experience," she says. "But it's virtually impossible to prove they discriminated against me because of my age."

According to law firm Eversheds, the popular idea that the older generation is being pushed aside by thrusting young executives is just a myth. The firm carried out a survey which found that six out of 10 16- to 24-year- olds said they had been treated unfairly at work because of their age or lack of experience, while only 48% of people over 45 complained of the same sort of treatment. Overall, one in three of those surveyed by Eversheds claimed to have been the victim of some form of age discrimination.

HR managers often perceive younger workers as being inexperienced, more likely to take time off sick, less likely to stay in the job, unskilled and unreliable. One employer admitted he had chosen an older worker over a younger person when recruiting for a recent position. "We had one applicant who was 23 and really ambitious. I didn't want to spend six months or a year training him for him to up and leave. I thought the 40-year-old applicant was more likely to stick around."

In some instances people in their late 20s can already be considered too old for a position, especially if they have gone into their chosen field later than normal. Journalist Chris Dyer, 29, took six months to get a job as a trainee reporter after returning to college to study journalism at the age of 28. "I got turned down for loads of jobs and I think it was because most trainee jobs are filled by people aged 21 or 22, but at 28, I needed to start somewhere too," he says. "Most editors probably thought someone of my age wouldn't want to be on a trainee's salary for long and would soon move on and so they didn't recruit me."

However, deep-rooted prejudice against job applicants over 50 still has not gone away. A survey of 873 employers by law firm Peninsula found that 47% admit to discriminating against older workers during the hiring process. The findings echo research carried out by the CIPD, which found that a third of workers over 50 experienced some form of discrimination at work. Peninsula's Peter Done says: "It would be naive to believe that a more senior candidate would not be suitable for a business, with time and experience being an invaluable commodity that younger employees will not be able to offer."

However, with help and guidance from recruitment advisers, the right answers to tricky interview questions and the gradual education of employees regarding the benefits of employing older people, all is not lost for older job applicants. Experience, knowledge and discipline are all things older candidates should make the most of on a CV or at an interview. Other positive aspects could include not having young children to look after and not having the same financial commitments as younger people. Experts also advise showing enthusiasm and demonstrating that you are flexible, can pick up new skills and are willing to work under a younger manager.

The Employers Forum on Age is hoping to tackle age discrimination by trying out an age-neutral application form. Together with recruitment specialists Bartlett Scott Edgar, it is encouraging HR departments to use a form that not only omits age but all chronological information which gives away how old someone is. It hopes employers will then choose interviewees based on their skills and experience, rather then dismissing older candidates.

James Reed, CEO of recruitment consultancy Reed, says that some firms have a tendency to recruit people with a similar age profile to their existing employees, but this is not always a good idea. He advises older people at an interview to concentrate on showing how their own skills and experience match the requirements of the job. "I suggest that they take some time before the interview to think about their unique perspective and the benefits that they can bring to the company. This will not only build confidence but will also help to challenge any prejudices that the interviewer has."

In the US legislation prohibits discrimination against anyone over 40 and British firms will soon be subject to similar rules when the EU Employment Directive, due to be adopted in December 2006, will make it unlawful for employers to discriminate on grounds of age.

After that, phrases such as "experienced", "graduate" or "mature" in recruitment ads could be described as discriminatory and breach the legislation. CIPD diversity adviser Dianah Worman says that age discimination can actually cost businesses in the long run. "The business case for employing older workers seems more compelling as they are more likely to stay in their jobs for longer - the cost of replacing staff is more than £3,500 on average," she says. Judging people by their age, the CIPD claims, creates problems in the labour market and effectively blinds organisations to obvious sources of talent.

But an ageing population - and the number of people aged between 55 and 64 is set to increase from 5.6 million in 1991 to 8.4 million in 2021 - will force companies to change their understanding of how to manage, recruit, reward, train and motivate employees across all age ranges, and at all stages of their careers.

'Every applicant over 45 was as good as binned'

Barry Badham runs Dinosaurs Unlimited a recruitment agency targeting the over-45s.

As with so many good ideas, the agency was born after a chance conversation between two old friends, and quickly became a roaring success.

"We're just a couple of old dinosaurs," Barry Badham, 55, said to his friend Ray Steele, 52. Having taken an early retirement package from a motor dealership company, Badham was experiencing what appeared to be resistance towards hiring older workers. Steele had recently taken voluntary redundancy from his job in financial services and was finding himself up against the same thing.

"We had a friend with a recruitment agency and he said every applicant over 45 was as good as binned," says Badham. "We thought this was a huge waste of talent so we set up a recruitment agency specialising in this age group. We don't want positive discrimination towards older people but just believe there's a place in the workplace for younger and older people. A lot of older people we place in senior positions play a role in mentoring younger staff."

Badham found the biggest problem over-45s encountered in their job search was getting an interview. "One guy had written 140 letters and only got one interview. But it can be the same for younger people. I did a phone-in about ageism on Radio 5 Live and one young graduate had found it difficult to get a job."

BIRMINGHAM POST - 7th APRIL 2004

'Dinosaurs' seize a place in the future'

Article by Doreen Carvajal

Soon after Barry Badham took an early-retirement package from a motor dealership company in Birmingham, England, at the vigorous age of 55, he experienced an epiphany of sorts over a Chinese dinner of pancakes and crispy duck.

"We're just a couple of dinosaurs," he confided to his old friend Ray Steele, who was in his early 50s and unsettled by the loss of his long-time job in financial services. Both were experiencing what they felt was the labor market's scorn of older workers. And both decided they didn't want to work again for anyone else.

By the time Steele and Badham had finished a few pints and cracked open the fortune cookies, they had dreamed up a solution - an employment-recruiting agency in Britain to serve people over 45 years old. And they had come up with a name: "Dinosaurs Unlimited."

Almost three years later, the company is franchising the concept and promoting itself with a prehistoric mascot, a roaring Tyrannosaurus rex with sharp teeth and spectacles.

It's an employee profile that European companies better start paying attention to. New age discrimination laws and profound demographic changes will soon confront them.

By 2006, all European Union members must have antidiscrimination laws covering recruiting, hiring and retention. But necessity has already prodded smaller countries to act.

In Finland, a steadily declining birthrate means that by next year the country will have a work force in which one-third of the workers are 50 to 64. It's a trend that larger European countries will confront in the next 20 years. To face the issue, Finland moved to reduce early-retirement plans in its pension system and actively worked to overhaul discriminatory attitudes.

But even so, this month the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development pressed Finland to move more aggressively to change the behavior of employers who still haven't altered their mindset toward older employees.

Ingrained attitudes and recruiting habits among large, traditional companies are not easy to change. Their usual stereotype is that older workers are inflexible and lack up-to-date technological skills. But Badham and Steele, of Dinosaurs Unlimited, say smaller and midsize companies often don't buy into this assumption any more.

" We provide companies with a person who is loyal, probably overqualified, and reasonable financially," Badham said, adding that many had senior positions and had taken buyout packages.

" Probably their mortgage is paid off and they can manage on less money," he said.

Some businesses have taken the initiative by offering flexible schedules tailored for "downshifting" to a new phase of life.
In Sweden, ForeningsSparbanken, a Stockholm bank, offers reduced hours, allowing older employees to work 80 percent of the normal work shift for 90 percent of the pay. Thomas Cook, the travel chain, is trying to tap the older labor market through job sharing and contracts for fixed periods of time. Those strategies follow the longtime efforts of B&Q, a British home improvement chain that has eliminated all age restrictions and compulsory retirement.

As an early test, B&Q tracked results in a store that was run entirely by older workers. Over six months, profits rose 18 percent on average over four comparable stores. Staff turnover was six times lower and absenteeism dropped by 39 percent.

Today, older workers make up 21 percent of the chain's 35,000 employees, and B&Q says it tries to have a broad range of ages in its work force. Susan O'Neill, the chain's diversity manager, said customers were pleased with the service offered because older workers can share knowledge based on their life experiences, which can include owning a home and having worked previously in a trade-related job. She said B&Q was not overly concerned about health issues.

" Ill health can happen to anyone at any age," she said. "Sometimes people use these things for not employing people."
The company's strategy has paid off with loyalty that lasts a lifetime. Last June, Reg Hill, a gardening employee, celebrated his 90th birthday. To laud him for 13 years of service, B&Q developed a hybrid rose in his honor, a legacy the company ordinarily reserved for the likes of Queen Elizabeth II and Paul McCartney.

Hill, who works two hours a day, used the occasion to offer reassurances. He has no plans to retire.

BIRMINGHAM POST - 3rd JULY 2003

Midland bosses praise scheme - July 3rd 2003
By Steve Pain, Birmingham Post

West Midlands business leaders yesterday praised a new Government initiative, which aims to give older workers more employment opportunities.
The move was announced by Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt, who hopes legislation to outlaw age discrimination would be seen as being as effective in the future as the law on race and sex discrimination.

The Government is preparing to unveil a consultation document on moves to outlaw age discrimination in the workplace by 2006.
The proposals are expected to include a move to allow people to work to the age of 70 if they want to.
Workers would be able to claim unfair dismissal if they were discriminated against on the grounds of their age, and firms would not be allowed to set age limits in job advertisements under the proposals.

Companies would also not be allowed to prevent workers going on training courses if they believed they were too old.
John Cridland, deputy director general of the CBI, said: "Employers recognise the need to give a clear signal that age discrimination is unacceptable.
" But much more than any previous discrimination law, age discrimination is particularly difficult to define."
Mr Cridland warned there was a real risk of an "explosion" of employment tribunals if workers took up any new right to challenge employers if they felt they had been discriminated against because of their age.

" Employers need to be clear, whether at recruitment or retirement, they can take common-sense decisions that are inside the law." Jerry Blackett, policy director at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "Over the years, age discrimination in this country has meant the experience and skills of the more mature employee have been lost to industry.

" The fact that someone is over-60 hardly means they are on the employment scrap heap. In the majority of cases they still have an awful lot to offer the companies they work for, and the regulations being aired by the Trade Secretary give employees and employers more flexibility to take advantage of that.
" There are already more people in the UK over the age of 50 than those 16 or under, which means if ageism continues to be rife, there is sure to be a labour gap in years to come.

" You only have to look at the success of Chamber members Dinosaurs Unlimited, which finds employment for those over the age of 45 who have lost their jobs, to appreciate that companies are realising that there is no substitute for experience when running companies."

In the July edition of the chamber's magazine Chamberlink, Peter Tomlinson, managing director of radio station Saga 105.7fm, says: "People over 50 are viewed to be unfit, under-skilled, unlikely to be a long-term employment solution, too old to accept management from younger people, too set in their ways and incapable of learning new skills. The reality is, not surprisingly, very, very different."
Alan Durham, of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said many employers already recognise that older people provide a useful pool of expertise on which they can draw.

" We strongly urge the Government not to place restrictive legislation on employers. Small and medium sized enterprises already have enough red-tape to deal with, without a further burden placed upon them," he added.

" The concern is that this could lead to an increase in the number of disputes going through employment tribunals. The plans must still allow for businesses to use common sense as well as the right to exercise choice.

" Older people do offer a range of skills but that is something which many employers already make use of."
Louise Beard, chief executive of the chamber, also said: "This will have immediate financial implications on employers."

BIRMINGHAM POST - 13th September 2001

By James O'Brien, Birmingham Post