Contracts may suit older workers

Older people who want to stay in the workforce could turn to contracting or temping, it has been recently suggested.

The changing nature of demographics might make it necessary for people to continue working for longer in years to come, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). People's lifespans are getting longer as was recently suggested by the Department for Work and Pensions, drawing on figures from Office for National Statistics projections. In fact, the department stated that one sixth of British people, living in the UK will live to be a hundred.

This means, according to Sarah Gordon, associate director of Sammons Group and chair of the REC's Diversity and Inclusion Forum, that there will be a greater role to play for recruitment agencies, which are ideally placed to provide older people with opportunities for temporary and contract work.

Ms Gordon added that older people can "choose to continue earning and contributing in a flexible way that suits their changing work/life balance, rather than being tied down to a full-time job."

Another suggestion made last December was from Emma Soames who is editor-at-large of Saga Magazine. She said that older people in the UK who find themselves unemployed could set up a limited company.

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