Equal - Digital Repository

The percentage of the population aged over 50 is increasing, and employees need to capitalise on the skills of their older workers, and attract experienced people over the age of 50. The Grey Matters project is designed to examine the use of flexible working practices in managing the retention of older workers, and to understand how the recruitment process can support the employment of older workers .

The project is a partnership between Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council and Coventry Building Society. These organisations have been involved in case studies, the results of which are being shared with other employers across the region .

The project has been working with partners to establish activities to:

• Gain a better understanding of Age demographics in the work place.
• Gain an improved understanding of the skills gaps in the work place.
• Understand the skills of older workers.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of current work life balance policies for Older workers.
• Consider a number of flexible work life balance options, including a more creative approach to retirement and longer leave opportunities.
• Identify how the use of IT can better support home- and flexible working.
• Develop a new protocol around work life balance and older workers and a new recruitment strategy.
• Target managers, Human Resources officers, regional employers and policy makers.