Confusion, as most people don’t think the phrase older workers refers to people aged 50 to 60. Phoenix Insights research in 2024 found that only one in four people (25%) think that the phrase older workers refers to people in their 50s. People are much more likely to think that 'older workers' refers to people in their 60s and 70s (70% and 69% respectively).
Discomfort, as only 31% of respondents reported the phrase 'older workers' as being appealing to describe people over 50 in employment (39% reported that they find the term unappealing.) Labels such as 'midlife workers' and 'people in their late career' only fared slightly better, with 40% of respondents saying they found them appealing.
If age needs to be explicit in the context it’s being used, then we would recommend using more factual and age-specific language such as 'workers in their 50s and above'. This had stronger appeal (54%), with only 10% actively saying that they found the term unappealing.
Read more: Why older workers are giving up on traditional recruitment
How often are we using age-based labels and terminology when we don’t need to? As we live longer, with this comes more variety in terms of what people need and want from work, when and why. Comments we received from our research included:
“Just call them workers; why do we always have the need to differentiate people into boxes!?” Male, 44
“[Older workers] sounds slightly offensive. A little like you are focusing on their age rather than what they can bring to the business.” Male, 42
“[Experienced workers] treats age as a positive, combating anti-age bias in the workplace.” Prefer not to say, 28
Fortunately for employers who are recruiting, The Centre for Ageing Better’s ‘Good Recruitment for Older Workers’ guide provides practical suggestions. It suggests avoiding the use of age-biased language, replacing terms such as ‘recent graduate’ and ‘innovative’ with specific skills required for the job.
We need to become much more age-agnostic. Assumptions based on someone’s age should be questioned. Take, for example, my colleague Matthew Brandon, a former graduate at Phoenix, who joined the company on our rotational scheme at the age of 30 – older than most graduates in financial services. He took a career break to go back to university while caring for his dad, who had dementia. Matthew joined at a different life-stage compared with his peers, offering an interesting perspective on our ways or working. Subsequently he joined and co-leads the carers network, and continues to advocate for carers rights at Phoenix.
With the proportion of the workforce aged 50 and over set to grow, it’s never been more important for employers to ensure they are communicating effectively, often across four or five generations, in their workplaces. Connecting people across different age groups is key to increasing mutual respect and reducing stereotypes, and the workplace is one of the most common places that people mix across generations.
Read more: Boomers, millennials, Gen Z: Do generational labels do more harm than good?
A multigenerational workforce improves diversity of thought. By bringing together different perspectives we can elevate productivity, business outcomes and employee wellbeing.
Across Phoenix Group, we have phased out our usage of the term ‘older workers’ wherever possible. This has involved both questioning the need to reference age at all in the context, and where it is helpful replacing it with more factual descriptions such as ‘employees aged 50-plus’ or something similar where possible.
Could your business or organisation do the same?
Catherine Sermon is head of public engagement and campaigns at Phoenix Insights, Phoenix Group's longevity think tank
