Age and IT employment

There were 416,000 IT specialists in the UK aged 50 and above during 2022, and at 22%, the level of representation for this group was much lower than that recorded amongst the wider workforce (i.e. 29%).

As illustrated below, the level of representation for older workers in IT roles, has remained much the same over the past five years.

Trends in workforce representation (2018-22)

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 557,000 ‘older’ IT specialists in the UK during 2022 i.e. approximately 141,000 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 Yorkshire/Humberside regions to 28% in the South East of England.

London is however, noted for a relatively young work force more generally – hence at eight percentage points, the difference in the level of representation for older workers in IT positions and workers as a whole, is around the norm (7 percentage points). By contrast in the North East, North West, Yorkshire/Humberside and Wales, representation of older workers in IT jobs was 10 or more percentage points below that recorded for the workforce as a whole during 2022.

Workforce representation by nation / region (2022)

Source: Analysis of ONS Quarterly Labour Force Survey by BCS