Over-50s are struggling to find employment due to employer’s adverse opinions on people aged over 50, their caring responsibilities and the lifestyle changes they wish (or, in some cases, need) to embrace. Research conducted by the Chartered Management Institute (the CMI), which focuses on management and leadership, indicates that employers are less open to hiring older workers than they are to bringing in younger people. The CMI has warned that we need to bring more older workers back into the workforce and that, to achieve that, employers will need to “shift their attitudes” towards hiring. Many older workers retired early when the pandemic hit. Others left due to health considerations. However, the majority of those who stopped working did so having lost their jobs and they are now struggling to re-enter the job market. Between May and June 2022, there were 386,000 more “economically inactive” adults aged 50 to 64 than in the pre-Covid area. This shift has exacerbated the workforce shortage in the UK and it needs addressing. People aged 50-65 who want to return to the workplace cite money and flexible working as the most important factors to them. The CMI found that a significant proportion (14%) had caring responsibilities and/or need to look after their family home. 11% were receiving financial support from their partner or family to pay their day to day overheads. Jobcentres are making a concerted effort to try to appeal to older workers. They are allowing their staff to meet prospective older workers in out of office settings, such as cafes, in a bid to de-stigmatise the process of them having to meet with someone from a Jobcentre. They have also developed a specialised offering for those aged 50 and over, which includes help modernising CVs and the ability to develop new skills through specialist programmes with new employers. Help can also be obtained via the Age Diversity Network, founded by Michael O’Reilly, a man in his 50s. He did so having felt that his “usefulness” had passed. He had been trying to find a job but encountered companies not wanting to recruit people at his age. His organisation works with employers to highlight the benefits of hiring older workers to them. It offers them training and workshops which focus on how experience and knowledge can add value to the workplace and on how to deal with an inter-generational workforce. It also puts on networking events to bring candidates and employers together. The Labour party has also announced a targeted approach to try to get early retirees back into the workplace. If it comes into power, it wants to give over 50s the right to work from home, wider access to flexible working and tailored lessons to support them to seek to re-join the workplace.