For Government, Policy & Political
The skills the country needs are in plain sight.
Why write them off at 50? Falling employment after 50 is not a problem of individual capacity – it is a failure of employer demand. Policy needs to catch up.
A growth issue, not a welfare issue
85 million unfilled roles are forecast globally by 2030 – sitting alongside millions of capable people over 50 who are ready, willing and unable to get hired.
The missing half of the analysis
Every recent report on 50+ employment – including those by Lord Stewart Wood and Sir Charlie Mayfield – frames the problem as individual capacity. Employer demand is barely examined.
The 100-year life is already here
Demographics, AI, workplace design and policy failure are colliding. The result is both a crisis and an extraordinary economic opportunity.
What the book offers policy makers
Three arguments to put at the centre of policy.
Put employers at the centre of the analysis
Biased recruitment systems, age-coded job adverts and AI tools trained on historically discriminatory data filter out millions of experienced people. This is not a supply problem – it is a demand failure, and it is where policy leverage sits.
Count the real cost of writing people off at 50
Lost tax revenue, lost productivity, lost mentoring capacity and rising dependency – measured against a talent pool that is motivated, skilled and immediately available.
Evidence, not anecdote
Case studies and research from employers already proving that age-inclusive workplaces drive performance – from Lloyds Banking Group and B&Q to Siemens Energy and the National Trust.
Start the conversation
Bring this argument to your committee, department or event.
Victoria speaks regularly to policy audiences, think tanks and industry bodies on the economics of the 50+ workforce and the AI era.