Part A - Overview

Who are our older workers?

Employers define ‘older’ in a range of ways. The most typical definition is ‘55 years and over’. However, this varies in different sectors. In sectors where there are heavy physical demands, it is more likely that they are thinking of workers aged 50 and over. In high-earning professions, where significant numbers of people are choosing to step away from their full-time jobs in their fifties, fifty also is seen as a benchmark for categorising older workers. Some organisations think about ‘older’ as people in the last five to ten years of their paid employment. Others do not think about age, rather length of service.

Organisations find it useful to define ‘older’ in a way that is relevant to them to help them monitor their workforce and carry out workforce planning. Apart from that, the definition will not necessarily be very important.