Working as you get older and coping facing redundancy

Parish councils are a good place to look, or Churches, they have paid admin staff, I got a paid p/t admin job at a parish council aged 63, charities also have paid staff. Small businesses often prefer more mature people for reception/telephone positions and often have minimal IT as they can’t afford the fancy stuff. Get a good reference to include reliability, timekeeping and diligence. Good luck.

As long as you can remember double entry - for me credits by the window, debits by the door.

How about doing some voluntary typing. Something like a parish magazine? Or parish council minutes? You might find agencies a bit difficult . They are staffed by young people who might start talking about the new software and the cloud, etc etc.

There are still lots of small businesses who aren't computerised yet and still give their accountants cardboard boxes or carrier bags full of stuff. You'd be cheaper than their staff. Even if you just did an Excel spreadsheet with the bills numbered so that they could be matched to the spreadsheet it would be a great help.

I have a friend/client ( a furniture restorer) who puts an advert in his local free sheet. You could also advertise in the local parish mag. Think about trying this before you reach the point when you have to look for work. You could just do a bit in the evenings or weekends.

Hi Ffoxglove - I would really consider (if you ARE made redundant) registering with a temp agency. My current FT job started as a temp position in 2007 - I'm 62 now, so totally understand your worries. The agency took us out each Christmas and I met the other temps and was pleasantly surprised by how many older ladies were working as temps - many much older than I was at the time. The companies loved them due to their experience, work ethic and flexibility. Indeed I recommended a friend - same age as me - and she too started as a temp and was made permanent after a couple of years. We are both administrators - there are loads of jobs for us out there.

Really good luck and try not to worry, you have loads to offer and I'm sure you will be snapped up

I actually trained and passed exams for bookkeeping about 20 years ago but have lost confidence in this area, maybe it's something I could pick up again?

I would certainly join agencies, with me though it's a confidence thing and as I get older it gets worse not better!

If you're doing admin can you do basic book-keeping? Using a spreadsheet? I suspect that there are small businesses out there who would like help with their paperwork. You could offer your services on a part time basis and, once you've picked up one client, more will follow.

You wouldn’t lose your LA service Ffoxglove, you will still be entitled to your pension whether you leave in the meantime or not? You will not get redundancy pay if you leave before the axe falls, but there’s everything to gain by being proactive, at least for internal opportunities, surely - you won’t get redundancy pay, but you will have a job so you won’t need it. -and there’s more chance if you do it now because presumably there are others in your department in the same position so you will be competing with more people later.

I had another thought, if you do get made redundant you can apply to go on the bank, either with your LA or with other organisations, eg the NHS is employing a lot of extra staff at the moment to manage the vaccination rollout, and temporary posts can lead to permanent posts.

I had already factored in the tax free situation and being at home I am saving money on petrol parking but this is how it is at the moment for most working at home and yes I have saved more.
Sadly I am not a professional, I am admin and it's doubtful I feel I have much to offer on Linkedin (I am just being realistic many people could do my job)
I already checked state pension I have 6.5 more years to go and another year to pay in to get full pension (yes I opted out and have had to work more years) I have been working since I was 16 (43 years now) with a short mat leave break but many companies I worked for had no pension back in the day. I will have to see how it pans out there is little point moving jobs until I know as I would lose 21 years service.

The union will presumably fight for their members (and rightly so), so this could put you at a disadvantage, but otherwise there are rules that employers have to follow when deciding who is selected for redundancy. They can't decide to choose younger people over older ones, so there is no saying that the axe will fall on you. If you would be retiring soon(ish) anyway, it would be cheaper for your employer to keep you on until then, as you won't get a redundancy package when you retire.

A year's untaxed salary will be a lot higher than 12 months' take-home pay, so if the worst happens you will find that this, coupled with the fact that your expenditure will go down, will mean that it lasts a lot longer than you might expect.

When I left full-time work (at 58), I saved a lot on commuting charges, and even things like cups of coffee, lunches and so on soon added up (or subtracted themselves!) and I was surprised at how much less I was spending. I didn't need to buy work clothes, which also saved quite a lot. I stayed active in my professional body, and was soon offered a bit of consultancy work. It is not a lot, but keeps my face known, and brings in a bit of extra money. Maybe you could start letting it be known now that you might be interested in little bits of work down the line. Do you have a Linked In account? If not, you could start to set one up now, so that you have recommendations and so on before you leave work (if that's what happens).

It is worth calling the pensions advice line, and checking whether you will have a shortfall on your state pension - the odds are that you will as most people in the civil service were 'opted out' of the pension part of NI contributions - and ask if it is worth buying back the missing years. You can do this in quarterly payments if it is worth your while (and if you can afford it). You are gambling on living long enough to get back the money you spend, but if memory serves you usually break even four years after retirement, and after that you gain quite a lot.

I hope it works out for you, whatever happens. Some of it is out of your hands, but if you can start planning for a worse case scenario now, you might be able to mitigate at least some of the financial impact if it happens.

Thanks for your responses, they are making me feel more positive!

Your worry is totally understandable, it would be hard not to fret in your situation.

However, I used to run my own business a while back and when I had staff vacancies I would thank the lord if people of our age applied. Years of experience and knowledge, usually flexible and able to solve problems on the hoof. Rarely get wrecked at the weekend and ring in sick on a Monday, aren't going to get pregnant and take child care days...you are an employers dream!

See, there is a flip side. Massive luck with it all, please don't write yourself off, you have an awful lot to offer.

Incidentally I didn't dismiss younger applicants out of hand and always employed the best candidate for the position.

Local Authorities are major employers, so there should be an HR Department with access to advice and support, and also they will operate a redeployment register so the staff at risk of redundancy are given preferential consideration for posts in other parts of the authority as they become available. Enthusiasm for a different role and willingness to learn are the most important factors I think, so you need to appear really positive and keen to fit into a new role whether it’s in the LA or elsewhere, even if you don’t feel that inside. I hope you find the right niche for you - look now rather than waiting for an axe to fall, because you’ll feel better just for taking charge of your own destiny.

I am full time at the moment (killing me!) so would have full redundancy but it's only the basic one not enhanced like some places.
Yes I'd consider anything, I am really lucky at the moment working from home, I love it not having to go out in the snow and worry about getting there and back!
I love working with all my team don't get me wrong but these days I feel they are much quicker and sharp witted than me and that's when I feel it.

Sorry to hear of your predicament - I think quite a lot of ladies are having similar problems. You will be entitled to some sort of tax free redundancy payment, but I guess much reduced by only working part-time?
I think I understand that you don’t really enjoy the thought of working with youngsters - my friend was going to continue working after her October birthday, but with 2 new graduate starters, she can’t wait to get away and ticking off the days.
As others have said, keep your options open and consider anything and everything - there are often vacancies in the ‘caring sector’ if that appeals?
Unfortunately, I’m not ‘up’ on the benefits system - but might you qualify for tax credits/income support? A chat with someone at Citizens Advice?
Hopefully the redundancies might not happen and you can battle on for a few more years.

I am not in the union, most aren't after the failed miserable at the last restructure.
No relocations, I would get a years pay though but it won't last me until I am 67!

I assume your union is pushing for a good redundancy package.

Is there any chance of being relocated within the LA?

I am 59 can cannot get my pension until 67.
I feel deskilled and that I no longer have transferable skills, we tend to employ apprentices now they are cheap.
I just think there are so many younger people out there needing jobs and therefore they'll be chosen over me, I wouldn't blame them!

Be prepared to do anything, think how your current skills can be adapted for other types of work.

I spent my working life working in industry providing senior management with commercial and industrial information and market research.

After I was made redundant I worked as a Home Advisor for a charity for the elderly, doing Benefits claims and helping sort out problems. Both jobs required a capacity to listen to people and understand what they needed to know, find that information and provide it to them in a form they could understand.

One thing you have in your favour is experience so please don’t write yourself off to a lot of employers this is invaluable.
Nobody has to retire at 67 if they don’t want to so you could work for longer.
Try looking at smaller companies in my experience they want someone who can do the job and is not concerned with childcare ect