Recruiting older workers can fill gaps in the labour market
The hospitality, travel and leisure sectors offer positive employment opportunities for workers over 50, but those sectors are not always capitalising on this pool of older talent.
But welcoming older workers can make a significant and positive difference, says our Senior Programme Manager for Age-friendly Employment, Tracy Riddell.
For any sector looking to fill skills and labour shortages, workers in their 50s, 60s and beyond are often an overlooked talent pool. Employment rates for 50+ workers are markedly lower than other age groups and tail off even further through the 50s and 60s. Often this is because of unfounded stereotypes about the qualities and capabilities of this age group.
The hospitality, travel and leisure sectors have a high demand for labour. Hospitality alone, is the third largest employer in the UK, providing work for 3.5 million people.
While vacancy numbers have fallen in recent months, the latest ONS statistics (January to March 2025) show that there are still a sizeable 84,000 vacancies in the industry.
There have been some positive trends within the sectors in terms of making better use of the 50+ worker talent pool in recent years. Workers aged 50 and over now comprise more than a third of the hospitality industry’s workforce, with 165,000 joining the sector between 2020 and 2023.
But there are still many more people in their 50s, 60s and beyond who could offer much to employers. Among the more than 3 million people aged 50-64 currently economically inactive in the UK, at least one in seven of these would be keen to return to the workplace with the right support.
Hospitality, travel and leisure businesses who employ more older workers will reap the benefits, with research showing that companies with multigenerational workforces are more productive and innovative.
Employers who have signed our Age-friendly Employer Pledge tell us that one of the benefits from having a greater proportion of older workers within their organisation is that their workforce better reflects their customer base. Many customers feel more at ease being served by a peer or someone of a similar age who they can identify with.
And that older customer base is one that sectors should be courting because of their significant spending power. For example, retirees are spending more on holidays than people who've yet to retire, at £2,673 as opposed to £2,512 for people who are yet to retire.
More than 500 employers, including 47 hospitality, travel and leisure companies, already signed up to our Age-friendly Employer Pledge are now taking concrete actions to improve work for people in their 50s and 60s and help them flourish in a multigenerational workforce.
The pledge offers support and advice on how employers can create an age-friendly culture by hiring age-positively, being flexible about flexible working, encourage career development at all ages and ensuring that everyone has the health support they need.
Taking these steps will help deliver the kind of jobs that bring out the best in older workers and help remove the barriers which might currently limit their opportunities.
More than a third (36%) of 50–69-year-olds feel at a disadvantage applying for jobs due to their age. But taking a closer look at how your organisation conducts interviews or the way you advertise vacancies can help remove the disadvantage.
We know that if a job advert is made more appealing to older workers, they will feel more comfortable in applying while having no impact on applications from other age groups.
Similarly, research has shown that flexible work is the number one priority for workers in their 50s and 60s. So, our Pledge recommends employers welcome flexible work for any reason, support line managers to manage flexible working and actively promoting flexible working to workers and applicants.
Hundreds of employers are already reaping the benefits of an age-friendly approach. There’s never been a better time for more to follow suit.
