Tina Nielsen reported on a collaboration between Starbucks and Mexico’s National Institute of Older Adults (INAPAM), when the two agreed to work together to improve the working conditions for older people and encourage them into the workplace. At the time William Bender FCSI, founder and principal of W.H. Bender & Associates remarked: “This is not the sole solution to the labor shortage going forward. It is just one more idea that is smart and part of an overall solution strategy of being the employer of choice in every market you enter.”
Flexibility is key
Due to population demographics, there will be another one million workers over the age of 50 in the UK by 2025. There will also be fewer workers aged 30 or under. With a challenging labor shortage and an ageing population, many hospitality businesses are actively reaching out to the over 50s as a valuable and untapped talent pool. According to the Centre for Ageing
Better older workers are loyal, reliable, committed, and conscientious. They contribute valuable business experience and knowledge. Greater life experience makes older workers better placed to manage themselves and others in the workplace compared with younger colleagues. Ageing Better’s report How to be
an Age-Friendly Employer reveals that opportunities for employment can diminish as we age and in 2018 there were over a million workers aged 50 to 64 who were involuntarily out of work. With one in three workers in the UK aged 50 or over, and with the state retirement age at 66 and rising to 67 soon, people aged 50 have the potential to work for almost another 20 years. Does this source of workers fi t with the hospitality sector’s need? Michael Neuner FCSI, former VP for Europe and UK at Hakkasan Group says maybe. “Recruitment in our and many other sectors has been a challenge for years. The increased restrictions for the workforce to move
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“If I get somebody for four hours or two to three days a week who is motivated I’m already winning. I’d rather take an excellent employee for four hours than a mediocre one for eight hours”
freely is only one of many factors but is frequently used as a blanket excuse. Recruiting from the “older” generation is a possible approach, but, especially for positions where late night and weekend work and physical fi tness is required, I doubt it is a blanket solution.” For operators looking to
employ older workers fl exibility is key according to the Centre for Ageing Better hospitality employers are used to fl exible working approaches, often for those with young families or study requirements. Older workers may wish to work fl exibly for diff erent reasons, such as caring for parents or spouses, or simply wanting to work fewer hours.
Motivated employees Almost one of the fi rst words Neuner utters on the subject is fl exibility. “Regardless of [employee] age
the industry needs to consider that fl exibility is a key element in schedules made available to employees,” he says. “Operators don’t want part- time employees. They don’t want people working three or four hours a day as it makes their scheduling more challenging. However, if I get somebody for four hours or two to
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