Qualitative Study of the Barriers Facing Employers Recruiting, Retaining and Retraining 50+ Workers

The successful bidder will undertake robust qualitative research into the barriers facing employers in recruiting, retaining and retraining older workers and possible solutions for tackling them. The research is required to meet two main aims. The first is to understand the barriers facing workers aged 50 and over (50+) in the labour market from an employer perspective. Based on these findings the second aim of the research is to investigate employer policies and practices to tackle these problems. Our main focus is on the circumstances of different groups of 50+ workers, noted in the literature to have greater barriers or a higher likelihood of leaving the labour market before state pension age (e.g. carers, those with a health condition/disability, low paid workers). Additionally, we are also interested in the how responses to the two main questions differ across employer sizes and sectors.