Average Treasury worker is 34 despite over-50s push

The chancellor is urging over-50s backmost into enactment but the mean property of Treasury unit is 33.6, the BBC has learned.

Just nether 10% of Treasury unit are implicit 50, it revealed. This property radical makes up 32% of the UK workforce, the Office for National Statistics said.

Charities pass over-50s bash privation to enactment but often look ageism from recruiters.

The Treasury said its recruitment processes were "fair, unfastened and based connected merit".

The BBC utilized a Freedom of Information petition asking to spot the ages of each applicants to roles astatine the Treasury implicit the past 5 years.

The results revealed that acold less over-50s use for jobs astatine the Treasury than younger workers.

Those over-50s that were invited for interviews, were little apt to beryllium offered a occupation than younger workers.

On mean implicit the past 5 years, 17% of over-50s who got interviews astatine the Treasury, were palmy astatine getting occupation offers. The fig is 20% for radical successful their thirties, and 22% for under-30s.

Taken arsenic a whole, the mean property of Treasury unit is 33.6, arsenic of December 2022.

That is good beneath the mean property of workers successful the UK, which is 42, according to the International Labour Organisation. This is based connected the latest disposable information from 2021.

The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt - who is 56 - has been calling for over-50s to instrumentality to employment, to assistance tackle unit shortages crossed the economy.

In his Budget past week, Mr Hunt said alternatively than labelling over-50s "older" workers they should alternatively beryllium considered "experienced".

He pledged £63m for programmes to promote this radical backmost to enactment with "returnerships" and skills footwear camps.

But charities person warned that portion galore over-50s bash privation to instrumentality to work, they often look favoritism from recruiters.

"There is decidedly a batch of ageism successful the labour market," said Chris Brooks, Head of Policy astatine Age UK.

"We perceive regularly from radical who accidental they consciousness overlooked unfairly successful the recruitment process."

The Treasury uses unsighted hiring, which means assessors don't spot applicants' ages. This tin beryllium "really adjuvant astatine the aboriginal stages," Mr Brooks said, erstwhile sifting done CVs and applications.

"But you inactive request to bid recruiters to guarantee they're minimising biases erstwhile they're face-to-face with candidates successful an interview," helium added.

Chris Walsh, main enforcement of the Wise Age charity, which supports older workers seeking jobs, said the Treasury's grounds of employing over-50s was "disappointing".

He said galore over-50s "desperately privation to work", and that determination were "real benefits" from having an age-diverse workforce.

"Especially successful the existent choky labour market, it's detrimental to employers not to prosecute diversely."

A Treasury spokesperson said: "Our recruitment processes are fair, unfastened and based connected merit. We tally a "blind" recruitment process, which means applicants' idiosyncratic details, including age, are not shown to assessors.

"We're committed to ensuring our unit travel from a scope of backgrounds, skills and expertise."

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