A Strategy for the Ages: Why Companies Need to Embrace Older Workers
In today’s rapidly evolving world of work, businesses that fail to embrace an age-inclusive workforce risk stagnation.
At Talent Connect United Kingdom 2025, Lyndsey Simpson, CEO and founder of 55/Redefined, brought this issue into sharp focus during her keynote session, Ageless Talent: Redefining the Future of Work. With a career spent championing over-50s talent, Lyndsey is widely recognized as a subject matter expert on longevity, the future of work, and multigenerational workforce strategies.
Lyndsey opened her keynote with a striking prediction: “By 2030, 47% of the U.K. workforce will be aged over 50.” She was unequivocal in her warning: “If you don’t have an age strategy, you don’t have a growth strategy.”
Build the business case for age inclusion
People are living and working longer, yet many businesses haven’t adapted. “The first thing that you have to do is recognize that you have a challenge,” Lyndsey said. “And that starts with data. You need to understand the age profile of your workforce. . . . Until then, you can’t possibly understand the opportunities there are or risks you need to solve for.”
Her point is reinforced by compelling data from 55/Redefined research:
- 56% of over-50s want to continue working beyond 65.
- 89% would take a pay cut to switch industries or reskill.
- 92% would delay retirement if given the opportunity to reskill.
- 82% have not been contacted by a recruiter in the past year.
This data tells a clear story: Older professionals are motivated, flexible, and eager to grow — yet they too often remain overlooked.
Debunking the myths
Lyndsey tackled common age-related stereotypes head-on: “We need to debunk the idea that older workers are less capable or unwilling to learn,” she said. “In fact, they are ready and willing to upskill. What’s missing is opportunity.”
She emphasized that AI and other transformative technologies are creating demand for the wisdom of experienced workers. “We now need our most experienced professionals to train our AI,” Lyndsey said. “That’s why organizations are unretiring or reskilling their midlife workforce to train AI data tools.”
And the data backs this up. According to the U.K. Workplace Learning Report 2025, 83% of United Kingdom’s learning and development professionals say continuous learning is more important than ever and upskilling is now the top focus across organizations. This underscores that older professionals, if supported, are just as capable of adapting and thriving as any other group.
Why an age strategy matters
Lyndsey laid out five mission-critical challenges that organizations must address to become truly age-inclusive. Tackling each of these is essential for long-term resilience and sustainable growth:
- Retention of key skills
As older workers near retirement, organizations risk losing critical institutional knowledge and deep expertise developed over decades. Without intentional retention strategies, companies face skill gaps that can slow operations, reduce innovation, and increase onboarding costs for new hires—for example, through extended training periods or the need to hire multiple less-experienced employees to match one retiree’s output. Retaining seasoned employees ensures continuity and maximizes return on years of investment in their development. - Lack of age intelligence
Many businesses still lack meaningful data on the age composition of their workforce or insight into the needs and motivations of older employees. This blind spot can lead to missed opportunities, poor workforce planning, and inadvertent age bias. By developing “age intelligence” — the ability to understand and respond to the realities of an aging workforce — leaders can make informed, inclusive decisions that benefit everyone. - Supportive and legally compliant offboarding
As more employees reach mid-to-late career stages, organizations must ensure that offboarding practices are fair, respectful, and legally sound. While age discrimination claims in the United Kingdom, for example, are currently less frequent than other types, they have seen a significant rise in compensation awards, indicating the seriousness with which tribunals are treating these cases. A thoughtful offboarding strategy also enables companies to maintain alumni networks, enable phased retirement, and encourage knowledge sharing even after exit. - Intergenerational collaboration and skills transfer
In today’s multigenerational workplace, collaboration between age groups is essential for success. Older employees often bring strategic thinking and deep industry know-how, while younger workers bring fresh perspectives and tech fluency. Creating structured opportunities for skills transfer and mentorship strengthens organizational agility, builds mutual respect, and accelerates learning across the board. - Ageless hiring and talent development strategy
Too many hiring and promotion processes are unintentionally biased toward younger talent. This not only limits access to a rich pool of skilled candidates but also weakens workforce diversity. An ageless strategy removes arbitrary age barriers and ensures that development pathways — like training, advancement, and coaching — are available to all employees, regardless of life stage.
How to build an age-inclusive workforce
Implementing a robust age strategy involves a combination of mindset shifts and practical changes:
- Recruitment: Remove bias and make job descriptions more inclusive (for example, avoid terms like “digital native”).
- Flexible work: Offer part-time, remote, and contract options to meet diverse needs.
- Reskilling and upskilling: Provide accessible training for emerging technologies, especially AI. According to AI Marketing Engineers, fostering a culture of lifelong learning is critical in the AI age. They stress the importance of investing in adaptable, transferable skills — especially for older workers who bring deep institutional knowledge — so organizations can remain competitive and agile in the face of change.
- Mentorship: Promote cross-generational mentorship programs to strengthen collaboration.
- Culture: Foster environments where age diversity is not only welcomed but celebrated.
“We need to be age-pioneering heroes,” Lyndsey said. “That means valuing experience, nurturing talent at every stage, and recognizing the immense potential within older employees.”
She also emphasized the value of skills-based hiring — especially for fast-evolving fields like AI. According to the Skills-Based Hiring 2025 Report: “In AI roles, a skills-based approach increases the talent pipeline by 8.2x globally,” underscoring the potential for companies to reach untapped candidates by focusing on ability over age or background.
The road ahead
For the average role, skills have changed 25% since 2015, according to LinkedIn data, and that number is expected to reach neary 70% by 2030. “Talent leaders,” Lyndsey said, “must help people adapt to this change and thrive in the AI era.”
That includes older workers. Especially older workers. When businesses invest in them, they invest in long-term resilience and growth.
“Change is happening,” Lyndsey concluded. “But it’s up to us to lead it. The future of work is ageless.”
Watch Lyndsey’s full keynote and find out more about Talent Connect United Kingdom 2025 here.
