• Phoenix Insights calls for workers aged 40 and over to tackle their fears around the financial aspects of making career changes to help them stay in meaningful employment for as long as they need and want to
• This is part of the ongoing Careers can change campaign in collaboration with Careershifters
• Two fifths (43%) of workers aged 40–65 feel their current financial situation doesn’t allow them to live the life they want
• Yet a quarter (26%) of 40–65-year-olds say they aren’t able to make career changes due to their personal finances. 

Research* from Phoenix Insights, Phoenix Group’s longevity think tank and Public First, finds that over two fifths (43%) of workers aged 40-65 do not feel that their current financial situation allows them to live the life they want*, while nearly half (48%) of 45-54 year olds have failed to take any action in relation to their careers which could improve their finances**.

In collaboration with Careershifters in support of the multi-organisation Careers can change campaign, Phoenix Insights is exploring career financing issues during Lifelong Learning and Talk Money Weeks.

The campaign aims to understand how the financial aspects of a potential career change can hold people back from making meaningful change.***. With 17 million UK adults not saving enough for the retirement they want, being in satisfying work is a crucial tool to help people have more choice and control over when they retire****.

The research found that nearly half (48%) of 40–65 year-olds are open to changing their careers. Over two thirds (67%) cited greater fulfilment from a job as a likely outcome of changing careers, as well as greater career progression (58%) and faster pay growth in the long run (54%).

Financial concerns are perceived as a major barrier to making a career switch among this age group, with a quarter (26%) citing worries about their living costs or personal finances.  While 44% say that financial planning causes them stress, respondents do feel that more support could empower them to make a change. Almost a third (31%) of these workers said that financial support would be most useful in helping them in the process of changing careers, followed by advice on changing career (25%) and career guidance (21%).

Similarly, the OECD has found that voluntary career moves can lead to pay growth and increase the likelihood of people remaining in work into their 60s which highlights the opportunity of experienced workers in making career changes to help extend working lives and help people who are financially struggling through wage growth*****. Phoenix research found that the biggest motivator for career change is more pay (48%), but for those struggling financially this was a bigger motivator (58%).

Catherine Sermon, Head of Public Engagement & Campaigns at Phoenix Insights, Phoenix Group’s longevity think tank comments: “What we need and want from work changes throughout our lives.  Midlife is a really important time for people to reflect on their careers and their finances.  Fear of the unknown, alongside living costs and personal finances are key barriers preventing people from making potentially beneficial career changes.

“With millions of people not on track for the retirements that they want, it’s more important than ever that people are supported to make a clearer connection between making changes to their working lives and being able to earn and save more by taking control of their finances and careers in midlife.”

Richard Alderson, founder of Careershifters, says: “Concerns about money hold many people back from making a career change. From our own supporting survey of 660 UK-based career changers aged 40-65 in October 2024, we found that 71% are worried about the impact of a career change on their financial situation, with only 9% feeling confident enough about their finances to go ahead.

“Through our partnership with Phoenix Insights, we’re tackling this head on – challenging the myths around financing a shift, providing practical guidance and inspiring real-life stories, and aiming to help career changers feel more equipped and more confident about the money aspects of their shifts.”

Resources

• * Polling conducted by Public First on behalf of Phoenix Insights among 2,000 UK working adults aged 40-65-years-old from 8^th-12^th February 2024
• **On behalf of Phoenix Insights, Ipsos conducted online interviews with a representative quota sample of 3,345 adults in the UK aged 16 – 75 years old of which 595 were aged 45 – 54 (referred to as “Midlifers”). Fieldwork took place between 21st – 24th  April 2023.
• *** The collaboration has seen the sharing of mythbusting stories to help inspire people to make a career change, information to equip people on how to finance a career change as well as masterclasses to help overcome barriers.
• ****The Longer Lives Index: A crisis in confidence (March 2022)
• *****OECD research, Promoting Better Career Choices for Longer Lives

Phoenix Insights is a partner in the ‘Careers can change’ campaign alongside Amazing If, Brave Starts, Careershifters, Enterprise Nation, Now Teach, Career Returners, Postcards from Midlife and the Learning & Work Institute. The campaign aims to inspire people, particularly in midlife, to see how their careers can change successfully and the steps they can take to ensure their career is working for them.