Age and IT employment

There were 446,000 IT specialists in the UK aged 50 and above during 2023, and at 22%, the level of representation for this group was much lower than that recorded amongst the wider workforce (i.e. 30%). 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 (2019-23)

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 594,000 older IT specialists in the UK during 2023 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 17% in London and the East Midlands regions to 29% in the South West of England.

London is however, noted for a relatively young workforce more generally – hence at seven percentage points, the difference in the level of representation for older workers in IT positions and workers as a whole, is equal to that for the UK as a whole (7 percentage points again).

By contrast in the East Midlands and Wales, representation of older workers in IT jobs was 10 percentage points or more below that recorded for the workforce as a whole during 2023.

Workforce representation by nation / region (2023)

Source: Analysis of ONS Quarterly Labour Force Survey by BCS