The grey hairs are rapidly showing in the oil and gas industry in Europe and the US. At an estimated average age of 49, half the workforce is expected to retire in the next five to 10 years. The US nursing and teaching professions in the US face a similar demographic crunch, as do aerospace and utilities companies.
These sectors are experiencing labour shortages as younger people balk at heavy manual work, unsociable hours and “unsexy” skills such as engineering. Employers are being forced both to find imaginative recruitment solutions and to consider how to hang on to mature workers for longer.
