Over-50s looking for work should consider delivering takeaways and other flexible jobs typically occupied by younger people, the work and pensions secretary has said.
Mel Stride made the comments during a visit to the London headquarters of the food delivery firm Deliveroo, which has recorded a 62% increase in riders aged over 50 since 2021.
In an interview with the Times during the visit, Stride said these flexible jobs offered “great opportunities” and that it was “good for people to consider options they might not have otherwise thought of”.
“What we’re seeing here is the ability to log on and off any time you like, no requirement to have to do a certain number of hours over a certain period of time, which is driving huge opportunities.”
He said employers could benefit from widening their recruitment pool to “access all the available talent”, and that flexible working can attract older workers. This builds on his earlier comments that such jobs suit workers with disabilities.
On the recently introduced digital “mid-life MOTs”, which are designed to help older workers with financial planning, health guidance and career skills, Stride said: “You really do need to sensibly stop, take where you are in life, and assess whether, for example, you’ve got enough money to get you through with the kind of lifestyle and living standards that you’re expecting.”
Since the pandemic there has been a sharp rise in the number of economically inactive people, those who are neither working nor looking for work. About 8.6 million people in the UK – equivalent to one in five working adults – are classed as economically inactive, according to the Office for National Statistics. More than 3.4 million of them are over 50 but under the retirement age.
This is placing strain on the labour market, with many employers struggling to recruit, and is part of the reason for high inflation, the Bank of England has said.
Analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank found that nearly half of older people who dropped out of the workforce at the start of the pandemic were struggling financially.
Stride said employers were responsible for creating an inclusive work environment for older employees. This should include fostering working cultures which were not “all about politics and all that kind of stuff”, though he noted that older people could have the life experience to cope with such environments.
Asked whether he would consider retiring early, Stride, 61, said: “I’m very happy doing what I’m doing at the moment.” He added: “Of course, as we know in politics, nothing is certain, so who knows where I’ll be in many years’ time – but I very much hope and aspire to be continuing to do this job, because it’s the greatest job in the world.”
