Age and IT employment

There were 313,000 IT specialists in the UK aged 50 and above during 2021, and at 22%, the level of representation for this group was much lower than that recorded amongst the wider workforce (i.e. 30%).

The level of representation for older workers in IT roles, has remained much the same over the past five years bar a small increase over the 2017-18 period of just 1 percentage point.

Trends in workforce representation (2017-21)

Source: Analysis of ONS Quarterly Labour Force Survey by BCS

If the level of representation for older workers in IT specialist positions was equal to that amongst the working age population as a whole, there would have been 561,000 ‘older’ IT specialists in the UK during 2021 i.e. approximately 148,000 more than the number recorded.

Representation across the UK

The proportion of IT specialists aged 50+ varies dramatically across the UK – from under 20% in London, the North East and the North West to 28% in Wales.

London is however, noted for a relatively young work force more generally – hence at 6 percentage points, the difference in the level of representation for older workers in IT positions and workers as a whole, is around the norm.

By contrast in the North East, North West and Yorkshire/Humberside regions, representation of older workers in IT jobs was 10 or more percentage points below that recorded for the workforce as a whole during 2021.

Workforce representation by nation / region (2021)

Source: Analysis of ONS Quarterly Labour Force Survey by BCS