Age
Workforce Breakdown
In the Workforce Monitoring Report for 2021/2022, the Scottish Government asked us to report on the age breakdown of the workforce in five-year splits, rather than the ten-year splits we had used up until that point. Therefore, the table below only shows the breakdown of the workforce by age for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. However, taking into account information from previous Workforce Monitoring Reports, our workforce continues to get older:
- the proportion of those aged 50 to 59 has increased from 22.2% in 2012 to 25.5% in 2023 (although this is down on the 26.7% in 2022);
- the proportion of those working aged over 60 has more than doubled in that time, up from 3.4% to 8.5% (up 0.6% in a year);
- the proportion of those in the 30 to 39 age bracket has fallen by just over 4% from 29.6% to 25.3%. This is an increase of 0.3% on the previous year, when it stood at 25.0%; and
- the proportion of those in the 40 to 49 age bracket has fallen from 31.6% to 25.5% (the same as in 2022).
Job Family
Some job families are more affected by the ageing population than others: 48.0% of staff in Support Services are aged over 50 (down 0.4% on the previous year); as are 71.4% of Senior Managers (a much smaller job family); 40.8% of staff members in Medical and Dental; and 39.8% of those in Administrative Services. The age ranges of staff within each job family is shown in the charts below:
Retirement Profile
An understanding of retirement profiles and robust succession planning to ensure sustainability, development and expansion of services are key workforce priorities. To overcome the risks posed by an ageing workforce HR works closely with managers to develop a more integrated approach to workforce planning, by supporting managers to analyse and interpret workforce data and consider future scenarios to ensure local workforce plans are in place.
The following chart shows the current retirement profile and the potential profile for 2028, when considering current staff. The current potential retirement profile (those aged 60 plus) is 8.5%, but by 2028 this could rise to 20.8%. Over a 5-year period this is a potential significant loss of workforce skills and experience across a wide degree of disciplines. The biggest areas of impact are within Support Services, Senior Managers and Administrative Services.
Comparative Demographics
The table below compares the proportion of staff in each age range in NHS GJ with the proportion of the population in those age ranges in the local council area (West Dunbartonshire) and Scotland as a whole, as forecast by the Scottish Government for 2019 (source: statistics.gov. scot/home). Please note that the Scottish Government statistics counts working age as 16 to 64, so the “60 plus” column for West Dunbartonshire and Scotland only includes people between those ages, while for NHS GJ it includes all employees aged 60 and over, with some being older than 64.
| Up to 19 | 20 to 29 | 30 to 39 | 40 to 49 | 50 to 59 | 60 plus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHS GJ | 0.2% | 14.5% | 25.3% | 26.1% | 25.5% | 8.5% |
| West Dunbartonshire | 8.0% | 19.0% | 19.3% | 18.4% | 24.4% | 10.9% |
| Scotland | 7.9% | 20.5% | 20.3% | 19.2% | 22.4% | 9.7% |
The table above shows that in both the local area and Scotland as a whole around 8% of the working age population is aged up to 19. However, within NHS GJ 0.2% of employees fall within this age range, and so is very under-represented in our workforce. At least in part this is because so few of the jobs within NHS GJ could be considered entry level and suitable for school leavers: many require further and higher education qualifications, along with professional registration. This also goes to explain why the proportion of those aged 20 to 29 is lower in NHS GJ than in Scotland and the local area.
Our proportion of 30 to 39 year olds and 40 to 49 year olds, and to a lesser extent 50 to 59 year olds, is higher than in West Dunbartonshire and Scotland as a whole. As can be seen from the age ranges of the job families above, our professions that require qualifications to practice tend to be in these age ranges. Our workforce aged 60 plus is lower than the local and national proportions, as many of our staff still retire at around 60, due to benefits of superannuation. This may change going forward, with the increase in the national pension age.
Recruitment Activity
The relative breakdown of new starters by age range is shown in the table below:
This shows that new starters tend to be in the younger age ranges, more so than in the previous year. However, while last year the proportion of new starters aged over 60 was 1.3%, this year it was 5.2%, with some of these being retirees who returned to work.
Training Activity
The proportion of training undertaken by each age range during the period monitored closely reflects the proportion of the workforce that age range comprises, as can be seen from the chart below, with the younger age ranges tending to participate more in training than their proportion of the workforce.
Career Progression
The monitored period saw a total of 139 promotions (including positive changes in bands/grades) among NHS GJ’s workforce. The table below shows the number and proportion of promotions by age range. It also shows that members of the 25 to 29 and 35 to 39 age groups are most likely to be promoted, while employees in the under 20, 20 to 24, 60 to 64 and 65 plus age group are least likely to be promoted.
| Promotions | Workforce | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headcount | % Headcount | Headcount | % Headcount | % Age group promoted | |
| Under 20 | 0 | 0.0% | 4 | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 20 to 24 | 3 | 2.2% | 95 | 4.3% | 3.2% |
| 25 to 29 | 22 | 15.8% | 223 | 10.2% | 9.9% |
| 30 to 34 | 24 | 17.3% | 268 | 12.3% | 9.0% |
| 35 to 39 | 26 | 18.7% | 284 | 13.0% | 9.2% |
| 40 to 44 | 18 | 12.9% | 288 | 13.2% | 6.3% |
| 45 to 49 | 19 | 13.7% | 282 | 12.9% | 6.7% |
| 50 to 54 | 18 | 12.9% | 287 | 13.1% | 6.3% |
| 55 to 59 | 7 | 5.0% | 270 | 12.4% | 2.6% |
| 60 to 64 | 2 | 1.4% | 149 | 6.8% | 1.3% |
| 65 plus | 0 | 0.0% | 36 | 1.6% | 0.0% |
| Total | 139 | 100.0% | 2186 | 100.0% | 6.4% |
Leavers by age range during the period under review is shown in the table below. The leavers in the 25 to 29 age range especially is higher than would be expected compared to their proportion of the workforce, while that in the 50 to 54, 40 to 44 and 45 to 49 age ranges is lower.
| Leavers | Workforce | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headcount | % Headcount | Headcount | % Headcount | Leavers as % of workforce | |
| Under 20 | 0 | 0.0% | 4 | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 20 to 24 | 18 | 5.5% | 95 | 4.3% | 18.9% |
| 25 to 29 | 57 | 17.3% | 223 | 10.2% | 25.6% |
| 30 to 34 | 40 | 12.2% | 268 | 12.3% | 14.9% |
| 35 to 39 | 43 | 13.1% | 284 | 13.0% | 15.1% |
| 40 to 44 | 31 | 9.4% | 288 | 13.2% | 10.8% |
| 45 to 49 | 33 | 10.0% | 282 | 12.9% | 11.7% |
| 50 to 54 | 28 | 8.5% | 287 | 13.1% | 9.8% |
| 55 to 59 | 36 | 10.9% | 270 | 12.4% | 13.3% |
| 60 to 64 | 25 | 7.6% | 149 | 6.8% | 16.8% |
| 65 plus | 18 | 5.5% | 36 | 1.6% | 50.0% |
| Total | 329 | 100.0% | 2186 | 100.0% | 15.1% |
Intersectionality
Having examined breakdown both by gender and age, it is interesting to consider the intersection of the two. By considering the age profiles of males and females separately, two distinct age distributions can be seen.
The plot above shows that male and female staff have different age distributions. Male staff fall into a single distribution, which peaks at 50 to 54 years, with a long tail to younger ages, while female staff seem to be composed of two distinct age distributions: an older cohort, with a mean age of 55 – 59; and a younger cohort, with a mean age between 30 to 34. This has implications for the ageing workforce. Unless more young, male staff are on boarded to the organisation, as this older cohort of staff ages out or the workforce, the balance of female-to-male staff will swing more heavily towards female staff.
