The redundancy rate for those in their 50s is more than double the rate for those in their 40s, claims new research.
The analysis, produced by over 50s jobs site Rest Less, was produced using data from the Office for National Statistics.
What does the data show?
It shows that, for the period of April to June 2019, 31,000 people in their 50s were made redundant.
This is a rate of 5.4 people per 1,000 employees. This compares with 15,000 people in their 40s (a rate of 2.5 per 1,000 employees.
Those in their 60s (60-69 year olds) were second to those in their 50s as the age group most likely to be made redundant during this time period, with a redundancy rate of 5.2 per 1,000 employees.
Millennials (16-29 year olds) came next: 26,000 were made redundant between April and June this year (a rate of 3.7 people per 1,000).
According to Stuart Lewis, founder of Rest Less, this is confirmation of age discrimination in the workplace.
“These official figures are confirmation that age discrimination doesn’t just occur in the recruitment process, but also with older employees who receive less workplace training, and are more likely to be made redundant than their younger counterparts.”
What else does the data show?
The data from Rest Less’s bespoke request can be found here.
This shows the redundancy rate for the April to June period for all years from 2009 to 2019 and is shown in our graph below.
The redundancy rate for those in their 40s has been consistently one of the lowest, relative to other age groups. The redundancy rates for all age groups were much higher during the economic crisis of 2009, with those in their 40s being the lowest.
The data is available from the ONS.
Where can I find More data on redundancy rates by age?
The data obtained by Rest Less covered the same quarter each year: April to June. This limits the number of data points but has the effect of neutralising any seasonality in the data. It ensures like is compared with like.
The Office of National Statistics produced similar redundancy data to that used by Rest Less, but covering all quarters. Although the age bands are different, it shows similar trends.
We’ve produced the charts below using that data. Over 50s are shown in green. Over more recent years, this age groups tended to have a higher rate of redundancy.
In the past (and particularly during the global financial crisis) younger workers had a higher rate of redundancy.