Minister for Employment, Mims Davies MP, has today announced the shortlist of the Work for tomorrow competition. Launched by the International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC) and supported by the Innovation Resource Center for Human Resources, Work for tomorrow is looking to identify and award the most promising innovations responding to an ageing workforce.

“This competition is an immediate response to the rapid changes we are seeing in what it means to work. We’re all likely going to need to work a little longer, but also need new and different skills during our careers. With an ageing workforce, we need to rethink the way we work, learn and live. Ensuring we bring people of all ages along on this shift is not just a ‘nice-to-do’ but a ‘need-to-do’ for businesses and governments alike”, argued Lily Parsey, Global Policy and Influencing Manager at ILC.

Speaking at the ILC’s seventh annual Future of Ageing conference today, Employment Minister, Mims Davies MP, argued:

“Older workers are a huge asset to businesses, helping fuel the economy and the country and offering a real wealth of both experience and knowledge. Through our recently expanded Plan for Jobs and our network of DWP 50PLUS Champions across our Jobcentres, we’re supporting older people to retrain, build new skills and progress in their careers. It is pleasing to see over a quarter of a million more older workers are now on company payrolls compared to a year ago.

This brilliant shortlist celebrates exciting innovations which are boosting the careers of older workers around the world, from job matching in Brazil to lifelong learning in Ireland. Thanks to these innovations, we are now able to better support our older workers in the face of a rapidly changing jobs market, as we push to build back better.”

The competition received 48 submissions from organisations and individuals across the world, ranging from solutions supporting health in the workplace, to innovative programmes developing workforce skills and policies that address discrimination at work.

The shortlist, publicly announced for the first time today, consists of:

• Ageing Workforce Ready, an Australian programme to support people’s mental wellbeing at work
• Labora Tech, a Brazilian job-matching and reskilling platform for older workers
• Brave Starts CIC, a UK platform to help people start or try out a new career
• Renaissance Academy, an Irish membership-based lifelong learning academy
• Please Ignore Us, an American podcast that highlights the value of older workers through storytelling and matches them to new jobs
• 55/Redefined, a UK organisation offering age unconscious bias training to combat age bias in recruitment
• Maturious, an Australian platform that maps and verifies the JOB DNA of older workers by capturing and assessing the depth and breadth of their acquired capabilities in each role over their working career
• Empowerment Passport, an online tool developed in the UK to help people identify their needs or potential adjustments that could help them at work
• Layertech Labs, a Philippine programme helping women in rural settings to learn digital skills
• Tradecraft Tools Limited, a British mobile app to support older entrepreneurs to start and run their own business

The 10 shortlisted entries will be invited to pitch their solutions to the competition’s expert judging panel over the coming months, with a hybrid awards ceremony scheduled for March 2022.

Alongside the judges’ picks, one spot on the shortlist will be voted in by the public. The people’s choice award is running until 12 December. The public is being encouraged to vote for their favourite submissions to confirm the judges’ choices or give one of the solutions an additional spot on the shortlist by liking their favourite videos on YouTube at: Work for tomorrow: People’s choice award – YouTube.

Jodi Starkman, Executive Director, Innovation Resource Center for Human Resources, said:

“As aging accelerates worldwide and people continue to work longer, employers and policy makers need to step up to the reality of an aging and age-diverse workforce. That means we need to (re)design our jobs, our workplaces, and our policies to support and empower the needs of people at different ages and stages of life. This will require innovation and co-creation across countries, industries, and organizations.

On behalf of IRC4HR, I am incredibly excited about the broad range of creative ideas and geographies that are represented by all the innovators who submitted an application to the Work for Tomorrow competition and, especially about the opportunities presented by those who made the shortlist.”

Mehbs Remtulla, Work for tomorrow judge and Founder & CEO of What’s NeXT?!, added:

“The broad reach of this competition highlighted the global nature of the asset every community possesses (the older worker). The opportunity to harness their experience, expertise and wisdom has never been greater. It also confirms older workers are able, willing and keen to contribute way beyond their traditional ‘retirement years.’ It was refreshing to see so many creative ideas come forward to address this opportunity.”

Prof Nic Palmarini, Work for tomorrow judge and Director of the UK’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing, commented:

“Never before has there been such a need for a reinterpretation of what we mean by innovation applied to the subject of work in and for old age. It is needed in light of demographic change, the economic and social situation, the critical issue of pensions, and climate change – about which we often talk, but for which we do not do enough.

What we are presenting today is not only the result of a competition to stimulate new ideas, it is a sharing platform through which we hope to generate a process of both narrative and practical change that will attract all sectors of civil society to the discussion.”

Rachele Focardi, Work for tomorrow judge, Author of “Reframing Generational Stereotypes” and Founder of XYZ@Work, said:

“Addressing the needs of an aging workforce has become a key priority for policy makers and employers across industries and geographies.
Increased life expectancy allows for older generations to remain in the workforce well past the age of retirement. This means they find themselves in direct competition with younger employees who have many of the skills that organizations now deem fundamental. Yet, what older employees bring to the table is incredibly important and valuable.

It has been a real honour to be a judge for the Work for Tomorrow competition, where creative minds have presented a series of transformational initiatives that can help governments and organisations equip employees with the right skills and opportunities to remain productively engaged regardless of their age, and to leverage their knowledge, wisdom and experiences to continue driving positive change.”

About Work for tomorrow

The Work for tomorrow competition, set up by ILC and supported by IRC4HR is seeking to identify and award the most promising innovations responding to an ageing workforce. Find out more about the programme here.

To view the video submissions of all contestants who have entered the people’s choice award for the competition, visit: Work for tomorrow: People’s choice award – YouTube

The judging panel

• The international judging panel brings together experts from across countries and sectors:
• Anthony Ariganello, President and CEO of the Chartered Professionals of Human Resources (CPHR) of BC, and the Yukon, and CPHR Canada
• Sheila Callaham, Executive Director and Board Chair, Age Equity Alliance
• Rachele Focardi, Expert and Public Speaker on Future of Work
• Fanny Krivoy, Founder/ Creative Director, Analogous
• George MacGinnis, Challenge Director, Healthy Ageing, UK Research and Innovation
• Bob Morton, President, World Federation of People Management Associations
• Nic Palmarini, Director, National Innovation Centre for Ageing
• Mehbs Remtulla, Founder and CEO, What’s neXT?!
• David Sinclair, Director, ILC
• Shruti Singh, Ageing and Employment Policies Lead, OECD
• Jodi Starkman, Executive Director, Innovation Resource Center for Human Resources (IRC4HR)
• Dr Kelly Tremblay, Neuroscientist and Audiologist
• Caroline Waters OBE, Deputy Chair, Equality and Human Rights Commission

Find out more about the programme and judges here.