Ladbury PR

Over-50s and carers remain an untapped resource for business

There are over 22 million people over 50 in the UK and 6.5 million carers, many of whom have skills and experience to offer and are looking for work on a flexible basis. Trading Times, funded by Nominet Trust, a new jobs matching site that connects local businesses with experienced people over 50 or providing care for a family member, who are looking for work on a flexible basis.

People like Ron Mobbs, 68 from Cockfosters, London, who worked for 20 years as a senior management consultant. Ron doesn’t need to work now, but he wants to keep active and keep contributing to society. Ron says,

“People like me have a vast range of experience. We’ve been there, we’ve got the t-shirt. We know how to cope with change better, we listen better, we’ve loads of knowledge and contacts. All this would be enormously valuable to a younger, smaller business. And the best part is that we can control the variables that we weren’t able to in corporate life - when, where and for how long we work!”

Or Mary Kazi, 65 from New Barnet, London, with 25 years’ experience in finance and local government, who is looking to work for just a few hours a week with local businesses.

“I was working for a company as an administrator for 20 years. Unfortunately, the company closed and all 300 of us were made redundant. I wasn’t quite ready for that. I was planning to continue working until I was 65, and possibly even beyond working three days a week. Suddenly that all came to a halt. I found it hard to adjust to retirement, finding it rather boring and also lonely. I missed the purpose and structure of work. Trading Times enables me to work flexibly and local to where I live. I now have some work that fits in with my life and not the other way round. The matching process means I’m not one of 200 applicants applying for one job, and you’re more likely to find what’s right for you.”

All businesses need to do is register at www.tradingtimes.org.uk, post their jobs, and let the Trading Times service match them with local people who have the right skills and availability. It’s free to register, post jobs and to read anonymous candidate profiles. Employers only pay when they want to connect with the candidates, at just £35 for up to 10 connections per job.

Find out more at: www.tradingtimes.org.uk