Last year (2015) the UK's Department for Work and Pensions reported that 'The employment rate for people aged 50 to 64 has grown from 55.4 to 69.6 per cent over the past 30 years, an increase of 14.2 percentage points. The employment rate for people aged 65 and over has doubled over the past 30 years, from 4.9 to 10.2 per cent, an increase of 5.3 percentage points.
Lots more in that age group, says another report, would like to find work but face a number of age-related barriers that: 'range from a lack of practical skills, such as IT proficiency and a limited ability to navigate job search and job applications online, to more emotive responses to employment, issue such as confidence, motivation and a belief that employers routinely discriminate against older jobseekers'.
The lack of practical skills is an interesting one and is relevant not just for older job seekers: the expectation that people will need to work for longer than in the past combined with impact that technology is having on the both work content and location mean that workers of whatever age need to keep their skills honed. But it could be much more valuable to keep your transferable skills honed than your expertise skills honed. Expertise can become redundant. Transferable skills less so.
Watch the video of Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott talking about their new book The 100 Year Life. They talk of a world of in which people are going to start work later [in life], take career breaks and spend time in their 60s and 70s acquiring new skills.