Is Britain running out of workers?

That might seem an odd question to pose on a day when UK unemployment figures rose over 2.5m. Yet many of those people live in the ‘wrong’ place, or have the ‘wrong’ skills (and most, hopefully, will not be unemployed for over 6 months). So here’s a blog post to get you thinking along PEST analysis lines – such as how firms are affected by this economic problem. But there’s another interesting point if you’re thinking about social trends too…Have you guessed where all these extra workers we need might come from?

According to the Telegraph, businesses are being told to change their attitude to employees in their 50s and 60s or be left behind with a looming shortage of qualified staff. Older workers should be seen as the new “untapped source of labour” because ministers are limiting the number of immigrants allowed into Britain. And according to the Department for Work and Pensions, employers will need to fill 13.5 million job vacancies over the next 10 years but only 7 million young people will leave school and college during that time (good news if you’re a youngster).

Currently 27 per cent of the workforce is over 50 but this will rise to one third by 2020, according to the same source. Businesses should recruit and retain more older workers because, “unlike migrants, they already live here, and their numbers are growing”. Failure to change practices to recruit and retain workers beyond the age of 60 will lead to skills shortages and risk future age discrimination claims as employers can no longer force staff to retire, it is suggested.

Successful employers have reported benefits of employing workers in their 60s, including the broader range of skills and experiences they bring, more opportunities to mentor new recruits, reduced staff turnover and better morale. I wonder if these claims are true, I’ve previously blogged about how firms might manage an ageing workforce.