Average Treasury worker 34 despite over-50s back to work push

The chancellor is urging over-50s back into work but the average age of Treasury staff is 33.6, the BBC has learned.

Just under 10% of Treasury staff are over 50, it revealed. This age group makes up 32% of the UK workforce, the Office for National Statistics said.

Charities warn over-50s do want to work but often face ageism from recruiters.

The Treasury said its recruitment processes were "fair, open and based on merit".

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The BBC used a Freedom of Information request asking to see the ages of all applicants to roles at the Treasury over the past five years.

The results revealed that far fewer over-50s apply for jobs at the Treasury than younger workers.

Those over-50s that were invited for interviews, were less likely to be offered a job than younger workers.

On average over the past five years, 17% of over-50s who got interviews at the Treasury, were successful at getting job offers. The figure is 20% for people in their thirties, and 22% for under-30s.

Taken as a whole, the average age of Treasury staff is 33.6, as of December 2022.

That is well below the average age of workers in the UK, which is 42, according to the International Labour Organisation. This is based on the latest available data from 2021.

The Treasury also had the lowest median age out of the entire civil service in 2022, an Institute for Government analysis showed.

Jeremy Hunt - who became chancellor last October - has been calling for over-50s to return to employment, to help tackle staff shortages across the economy.

In a speech in January, he spoke directly to early retirees, saying: "Britain needs you."

Last week, in the Budget, Mr Hunt said rather than labelling over-50s "older" workers they should instead be considered "experienced".

He pledged £63m for programmes to encourage this group back to work with "returnerships" and skills boot camps.

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But charities have warned that while many over-50s do want to return to work, they often face discrimination from recruiters.

"There is definitely a lot of ageism in the labour market," said Chris Brooks, head of policy at Age UK.

"We hear regularly from people who say they feel overlooked unfairly in the recruitment process."

The Treasury uses blind hiring, which means assessors do not see applicants' ages. This can be "really helpful at the early stages," Mr Brooks said, when sifting through CVs and applications.

"But you still need to train recruiters to ensure they're minimising biases when they're face-to-face with candidates in an interview," he added.

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

He said many over-50s "desperately want to work", and that there were "real benefits" from having an age-diverse workforce.

"Especially in the current tight labour market, it's detrimental to employers not to hire diversely."

A Treasury spokesperson said: "Our recruitment processes are fair, open and based on merit. We run a "blind" recruitment process, which means applicants' personal details, including age, are not shown to assessors.

"We're committed to ensuring our staff come from a range of backgrounds, skills and expertise."

Tips for finding a job if you're over 50

• Shift the focus away from your age and onto your ability wherever you can

• Update your skills in areas that are valued by employers

• Don't be nervous about asking to work flexibly - many employers expect it

Six tips for getting a job if you're over 50 - read more here