Competition launched for innovative ageing workforce initiatives

An international competition for ageing workforce initiatives has been launched to identify and award the most promising innovations.

The Work for Tomorrow competition has been launched on International HR Day by International Longevity Centre UK (ILC), supported by the Innovation Resource Center for Human Resources (IRC4HR), and will be across four key challenge areas:

• Maintaining good physical and mental health
• Building knowledge, skills and competence
• Addressing discrimination and supporting diversity in the workplace
• Adapting the workplace for flexibility

Research by ILC shows that across the G20 a third of workers is aged 50 and over, and in the next 20 years, this is set to increase to four in 10.

The ILC is seeking input from industry leaders, employers, start-ups, policy experts, academics and community organisations to find new and innovative solutions to these challenges and help unlock the potential of an ageing workforce and age diversity in the workplace.

The competition, judged by an expert panel, will be open for applications from around the world until 1 September 2021, with a final awards ceremony due to take place in early 2022.

Lily Parsey, Global Policy and Influencing Manager at ILC said: “Longer working lives, alongside other trends such as the growing role of tech and AI, are going to fundamentally reshape the workplace of the not-so-distant future. It’s time for employers to adapt in line with these changes. There has undoubtedly been lots of innovation out there, and among all the devastation it has caused, the pandemic has acted as a further catalyst for new ideas.”

Mehbs Remtulla, Founder and CEO of What’s neXT?!, and a Work for tomorrow judge said: “The narrative around ageing is misguided, society sees this stage of life as a period of decline, where it is a period of opportunity. The structures and networks we build in our working years do not work anymore, and it is hard to create new ones at this stage of life. We seem to lack the tool and resources to help us through this transition. There is no planned playbook for this period of life.”

*To apply for the competition, click here.

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