When you think of retirement what comes to mind? Popular stereotypes include: a gold watch and party at age 65, playing golf, travel and more time with the grandchildren.
The reality is that, today, the over 65s are starting companies, running countries, expanding business empires, volunteering locally, sailing the world and driving their adult children crazy with worry. Age sure ain’t what it used to be.
Most of the giants of Irish business worked, or continue to work, beyond 65 – Margaret Heffernan, the late Feargal Quinn, Breege O’Donoughue, Martin Naughton and Julie O’Neill to name just a few.
Thanks to better nutrition, exercise and medical progress, today’s pensioners are more physically and mentally active than their parents. A person aged 65 in Ireland today can expect to live to almost 86 and many Gen Xers may live even longer, with projections showing a lifespan of up to 100 years.
READ MORE
Many older healthier adults want, or need, to keep working beyond 65 and this is reshaping both the workplace and the marketplace.
Companies that fail to design their businesses with employees’ and customers’ full life in mind are missing out on one of the greatest growth opportunities of the 21st century, says Bradley Schurman, a demographic strategist and author of The Super Age: Decoding Our Demographic Destiny.
Active, engaged older people are not fringe cases; they’re becoming the mainstream. Yet they are strangely underrepresented or unaccounted for in workforce planning, product design and marketing.
“Many companies still treat ageing as a risk to be managed, not as a consumer and talent opportunity to be embraced,” says Schurman. “Internal KPIs [key performance indicators] prioritise short-term wins. Leadership pipelines overlook the potential of late-career professionals. Advertising often defaults to youthful imagery or treats older adults as burdens or punchlines”.
Companies that fail to modernise their thinking, imposing mandatory retirement ages and perpetuating ageist stereotypes, may be damaging their future profitability. The creation of an age-inclusive workforce and development of products and services suitable for your customers’ entire life cycle may actually be your company’s next competitive advantage.
Globally, according to the United Nations, one in six people is over the age of 60 and this figure is expected to double by 2050. Our fertility rate here is 1.5 births per woman, below the replacement level of 2.1.
Official statistics show a significant drop from previous years, with a 20.5 per cent decrease in registered births compared with the first three months of 2015. By 2057, Ireland will have more than one million people aged 65 and older.
So we have healthier older people, fewer births and full employment. For employers, it should be a no-brainer to hold on to capable older workers for as long as possible, even if it’s on a part-time or more flexible basis. And, as this demographic continues to earn, spend and travel, they are also a potential customer.
[ I want to work part-time after I’m 65 but I’ve been warned it’ll hurt my pensionOpens in new window ]
Significant shifts are needed to take advantage of this reality, says Schurman. “To stay competitive in a world shaped by longevity, population ageing and, in some cases, population decline, businesses should make two strategic product shifts – from youth-centric to age-inclusive product design and from age as decline to age as reinvention in marketing.”
They also need to make two workforce shifts, he said, “from career ladders to career landscapes and from age-segregated teams to intergenerational collaboration”.
Ireland recognised this changing demographic back in 2017 when the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) introduced the Code of Practice on Longer Working. It recognised that the “proportion of older workers and, in particular, workers who want to continue in employment beyond what would have been regarded as the traditional retirement age, is forecast to grow significantly in the future”.
[ Ireland’s shifting demographics pose major challenge for the exchequerOpens in new window ]
“This shift demands that employers and society create workplaces that support employees of all ages, foster lifelong learning, upskilling and flexible working options,” it said, adding that workplaces needed to recognise the value of experience, mentorship and stability that older workers bring.
“A healthy ageing workforce is not only beneficial for individuals, it’s vital for our economic resilience and social cohesion,” the WRC said.
It was proved correct. An increasing number of over-65s continues to work full or part-time. Almost 25,000 women over age 65 were at work in the second quarter of 2021. By this year, that had risen to nearly 42,000. For men the Q2 figures were 58,500 in 2020 to 89,500 in 2025, according to the CSO.
Despite the demographics and labour shortages, many employers start to push employees out of the workforce in their 50s. That’s not good for companies. They are losing valuable institutional knowledge, strong productivity levels and experienced mentors for younger workers.
And it is potentially devastating for the workers as a working life of just 25-30 years is unlikely to ensure financial security, maintain mental acuity or provide a sense of purpose and meaning over the next three to four decades.
Countries will need people to work beyond 60 or 65, says the OECD. “This requires labour market policies and employer practices that support the hiring, retention and, most importantly, the employability of mid-to-late career workers.
“Employers, employees, governments and social partners all have a role in promoting lifelong learning, improving job quality and promoting healthy workplaces to ensure the employability, wellbeing and the economic contribution of older workers in an evolving world of work.”
Careers should be landscapes instead of ladders. To make the most of your workforce, think about the needs across the business instead of just pushing workers up and then out.
Older senior managers and executives, and other workers, should be able to move to other parts of the organisation so they can share their knowledge and gain new skills. This might mean becoming a mentor, a chairperson, job-sharing with a colleague or even reskilling to work in another area of the business where they can share their expertise.
From an employer’s perspective, it is important to recognise that ageism exists and to put polices, strategies and behaviours in place that will minimise it. Some older people leave jobs not because they want to but because they feel unwanted, sidelined or burnt out.
Keep in mind that one size does not fit all. Each individual has their own thoughts about retirement – or they may not have even considered it – so it’s important to talk to them and help them design a future for themselves.
Do they want to work full-time past age 65 or start to reduce their hours? Would they like to stay in their current role or take on project-based work that gives them more flexibility? Would they like to reskill or retrain to provide internal coaching and mentoring?
Proactive measures such as occupational health programmes, job redesign and phased return-to-work initiatives can help prevent people leaving jobs too early and “returnships” may even attract older workers back into employment. Like an internship, these formally paid work placements can support older workers to transition back into the workplace and help them to learn new skills that will allow them to succeed.
The answer to labour shortages is staring employers right in the face. The question is whether they have the awareness to grasp it.
Margaret E Ward is chief executive of Clear Eye, a leadership consultancy. margaret@cleareye.ie
