JobStart: Scheme aims to get over-50s back into work

Former teacher and live-in carer Claire Yeun was not very hopeful about finding a job.

At 53, she found it “a bit intimidating,” but thanks to a new scheme she is enjoying her second week in employment.

The £1.9m JobStart scheme, aimed at boosting the employment opportunities of the over-50s, was announced by the Department for Communities in July.

It will provide about 180 jobs across a range of sectors in a pilot exercise funded by the UK government.

The funding covers a job that pays the national living wage for 25 hours a week for a six-month period.

One of the aims of the scheme is to tackle the high rate of economic inactivity in Northern Ireland, which for those aged 50 to 64 is 34.6%.

The latest figures suggest there are 130,000 people aged 50-64 who are not in work nor looking for a job.

Ms Yeun found a job quickly through the scheme.

“At the end of June I was looking for employment and feeling very doubtful because being 53 and not having a good strong skill base was a bit intimidating, but I’ve been able to get a job, which is fantastic,” she told BBC News NI.

“I’m changing fields of work—previously I worked as a teacher and as a live-in carer, and neither of them particularly had skills at a level of proficiency, so I was doubting my ability to fill a role.

“You forget how much you bring to an organisation, you focus on what you don’t have, but just remember that you do have skills, and age is not always a drawback. Sometimes there is wisdom that comes with 53 years of age.

“I still feel like I’ve got my whole life ahead of me, and earning potential is there—I just needed a leg up.”

BBC News NI spoke to two other people between the ages of 50 and 64 who are looking for work, as well as some employers targeting the age group due to the scheme.

Eugene Reid took a redundancy package from his job in 2020 and has worked in a number of roles, including as a local councillor in Ballymena.

He is currently looking for work and would like to work for another 15 years.

“I spent a career in an industry until I was 50 and then decided I wanted a change, and it was difficult because of the pandemic, finding obstacles in my way to decent and permanent employment, and four years on I’m finding it just as difficult,” he said.

“There’s a perception employers are more than willing to give jobs to young people who have just graduated because they think those people will stay there for life, but for many young people, a job for life is not a thing anymore.”

He said the JobStart initiative did not go far enough.

“We need people in the workforce, and there are huge swathes of people in my age group who want to get back out there, and they aren’t getting the opportunity to do it,” he said.

“It’s only a stepping stone in the right direction; much more needs to be done.

“There are many people out there; whether they had their children later in life or still have a mortgage, they want to get back to full-time employment.

“The schemes are not addressing the actual issues with people who have a lot of skills and a lot of experience, and they have to bring in a decent income in which they feel they are appreciated for the knowledge that they have.”

Gerry Taaffe, who is looking for work, said he was “still too young to be put out to pasture.”

The 60-year-old said the high cost of living was another reason why he did not want to retire.

“It is a wee bit tough at the moment looking for work. I presume they are looking for somebody younger who they will have in employment for longer, but I’m still young at heart and reasonably fit.”

More than 40 employers took part in a jobs fair in Belfast last week aimed at hiring people aged 50-64 through the scheme.

The event was organised by Belfast City Council in partnership with the Department for Communities.

Damien McAdams, from the Oh Yeah Music Centre, said they usually saw people coming from college or school wanting to break into the industry.

“It’s really interesting and very different to dealing with younger people at job fairs. Some of the CVs I’m seeing are better qualified than I am to do a role, so it is really nice, and there are people who are telling me they have built skills and experience up to do something different,” he said.

“This funding chance is crucial as an arts organisation where we do face funding restraints and challenges at the minute, so this opportunity wouldn’t exist without this programme.”

Lyndsay Cassling, from Paws Doggy Daycare, said the 50-64 age group was not one they typically recruited.

“Most of us are quite young, but we are interested in getting older people in who have an interest in dogs,” she said.

“Who wouldn’t want to get to bring their dog to work with them every day?”

Ardcomm office manager Veronica McHugh said the company had found recruitment very difficult over the past few months but had found three people through this scheme.

“The health and social care recruitment all over the place has been bad, so we are hoping to find people with the skills they can bring to us,” she said.