The age of the country’s workforce is shifting considerably, with a recent government report concluding that by 2022 the number of people in work aged between 50 and the state pension age will rise from 3.7 million to 13.8 million.
In addition, the number of workers aged 16 to 49 is set to fall by 700,000.
In education this means that schools are set to lose a generation of experienced teaching staff, threatening a further skills shortage.
Furthermore, research from recruitment firm Randstad Education, published this week, has revealed that a third of teachers are planning to retire early, with older staff members much more likely to be planning an early get away.
Of those teachers who joined the workforce in 1974 or earlier, 42 per cent said that they plan to retire early.
This figure drops to around 27 per cent for those who joined teaching after 1975.
Asked what might persuade them to delay their retirement plans, teachers in the study wanted to be offered more flexibility, such as flexible working, job-shares or phased retirement programmes.
Also, 45 per cent of the teachers said that a change of role towards more mentoring roles, with the opportunity to work with younger teachers, would encourage them to stay in post for longer.
The research also found that teachers are feeling a clear “societal pressure” to leave the workforce once they reach the state pension age. It found that almost 80 per cent of teachers reported feeling under this kind of pressure – saying that they believe “they won’t be wanted in the workforce” as they get older.
Following its findings, Randstad Education has warned that schools must act to try and keep their more experienced staff to prevent what it said could be a potential “mass exodus”.
Jenny Rollinson from Randstad Education said: “We have a ticking talent timebomb in our hands, and the flight of the baby-boomer generation from the teaching workforce could leave a gaping skills shortage in our midst.
“There’s already quite a war for talent as it is, and this will make it even harder to find the right people for the right jobs,” she continued.
“Schools need to hold onto the age and experience in their classrooms for as long as they can, as replacing senior teaching staff after they retire can be difficult.
“Mentoring can help fight the talent exodus on two fronts – first keeping senior teachers professionally fulfilled and engaged for an extra few years of employment, and also ensuring that their wisdom and experience is passed down to the new generation of NQTs.”