Over-50s unemployment rate soars – why the future may be freelance

In regards to the UK’s unemployment crisis, the impact on the nation’s youngest generations has been well documented in recent weeks. However, a new report from the Resolution Foundation and Nuffield Foundation has unveiled the pandemic as a “U-shaped crisis”, which has worst hit the youngest and oldest workers.

In its report, the Resolution and Nuffield Foundation has shown the fall in employment amongst 50-to-69-year-olds has been double those aged 25-to-49, 1.4 compared to 0.7 percentage points. Further to this, the report has also revealed that once out of work, over-50s have struggled significantly more than their younger counterparts to return to work, meaning large numbers of over-50s are now are falling out of the workforce for good. Yet even before the pandemic, older workers were more likely to face redundancy, have less access to in-work training and be long-term unemployed due to age discrimination.

Today, this cohort finds themselves chased again by the Coronavirus pandemic at the point where they have successfully climbed the job ladder. Therefore, many are looking towards alternative ways to work, to utilise their already built skillsets and prepare for retirement. One option for out of work over-50s is freelancing, a career path that offers a continuous stream of benefits. To name a few; flexibility, greater job satisfaction, variety and ultimately, the opportunity to become your own boss.

This makes the rise of co-agencies such as Future Strategy Club essential right now, by providing a helping hand for those looking towards entrepreneurialism and leaving behind the traditional workplace. Justin Small, Founder of Future Strategy Club, discusses why over-50s should look towards freelancing:

“At Future Strategy Club, we work with a body of these experienced individuals who now have circa 15 years worth of skills to tap in to, having weathered the 2008 crisis and now COVID-19. Over-50s tend to have kids and mortgages in tow, so stepping back onto an upwards facing career ladder is not on the agenda. For the majority of these entrepreneurial self-starters, they see the COVID-19 period as an opportunity to work for themselves, choose their own working environment and gain true security from their own knowledge and skillset. Freelancing and running their own company enables growth and purpose, leading to the freedom of self-reliance. If COVID-19 has shown us anything, it is that this self-reliance is ultimately the only security we can rely on in the end. I believe COVID-19 will be the catalyst for a massive amount of 50+ talent to change careers, and finally put their business ideas into action.

Although historically, freelancers have been excluded from the benefits of the permanent workforce – including workplace culture, socialisation and support networks – it is clear that the perception of freelancers and skilled consulting work has long needed an overhaul. Now, with the turbulence caused by COVID-19, the private sector’s reliance on flexible workers will not only become apparent but crucial to its survival, delivering a positive step for the gig economy and its importance to the wider economy.”