Airline EasyJet surprised the labour market in recent days by launching a recruitment campaign for cabin crew members aimed exclusively at those over the age of 45. At the same time Halfords, the retailer of motoring and cycling products, which employs around 10,000 people, has announced an apprenticeship programme for people over 50. These are illustrations that the return of older people to the labour market – who have exited en masse since the pandemic – is now seen as a solution to recruitment struggles.
EasyJet has made no secret of the fact that its new recruitment campaign is, for the first time, aimed at so-called “empty-nesters”, meaning parents whose children have left home. To justify its new stance, the UK-headquartered airline, which employs 13,000 people, has pointed to several findings that emerged from a survey of 2,000 British people. It found that 78% of over-45s would like to take on a new challenge once their children have left home.
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