Letter: Britain should follow other countries in tapping retirees' expertise

A letter published in the Guardian argues that Britain is wasting a valuable resource by pushing older workers out of the labour market, rather than drawing on their experience as other countries do.

The letter, from reader Alan Coppin, was written in response to a Guardian feature on Toshisuke Kanazawa, a 90-year-old Japanese bodybuilder who continues to compete. Coppin called the piece "a useful provocation" rather than simply a human-interest story.

An ageing workforce, differently handled

Coppin points to Japan, where almost 30% of the country's 123.7 million people are over 64, as an example of a society that continues to find roles for older citizens rather than treating age as a reason for exclusion. He contrasts this with Britain, citing figures that between 670,000 and 860,000 people leave the UK workforce each year, and that more than a third of people are economically inactive by their 60s.

As an example of an alternative approach, the letter cites a service in Germany that matches retired professionals with firms seeking their experience, allowing older workers to continue contributing in a more flexible capacity after formally leaving full-time employment.

Coppin's central argument is that this pattern represents a loss of accumulated "judgment and knowhow" that simply exits the workforce when older employees retire or are pushed out, with no equivalent mechanism in Britain to capture it.

The letter does not propose a specific UK policy response, but frames the comparison with Germany and Japan as evidence that other countries have found practical ways to keep older workers' skills in circulation rather than letting them go unused.