As there are more and more older people living longer and as many, but certainly not all have disposable income, the silver economy ( those of pensioner age plus older working age people) is a growth area.
Many seniors prefer the option of being dealt with by fellow seniors, with whom they can relate and are more sympathetic to their needs and situations and empathetic to any problems or barriers far sighted employers are employing age diverse staff.
It has been shown that where you have older workers in the workforce profits, productivity and staff satisfaction rises. Also where older workers are retained and employed more younger people also gain employment, as seniors are able to support and train them to become knowledgeable and integrated into the job as well as then bringing new awareness and skills needed to meet the younger market and extend into new forms of social media
What is needed now in government, employer and recruitment networks, equality and diversity managers is an increased awareness that age is also an important part of diversity and those facing discrimination and exclusion due to gender, ethnicity and / or disabilities face additional barriers as they get older, and with each year the barriers grow larger.
So it really is a win win situation, employers gain with age diversity, older people out of work need proper employment especially now more and more are facing poverty. All that is needed now are action plans to promote the benefits of older workers and age diversity to employers from all sectors while seniors need local specialist support to help prepare them for current job applications. Wise Age with 10 years specialist experience can help with this. see www.wiseage.org.uk