The UK jobs market has brought with it some curious changes in work culture lately. As employers and employees scramble to adjust to the economy, new Employment Rights Act measures and fewer vacancies, generational differences in how people deal with those shifts have emerged too, particularly when it comes to applying for jobs.
What those adjustments look like, it turns out, depends heavily on where you sit in the workforce.
A jobs market moving in two directions
That divide is clearest in the data. Employment Hero’s February Jobs Report, which draws on payroll data from more than 300,000 UK businesses, shows a labour market that, while broadly growing, is contracting for one group specifically: Boomers.
While Month-on-Month hiring rose 2.0% across UK SMEs in February, Boomer employment grew just 0.3% over the same period. Year-on-Year, the gap was even more steep. Despite overall employment rising 4.9%, Boomers experienced a 5.8% fall in employment, suggesting a jobs market that’s moving ahead without some of its most experienced workers.
The combination of weaker employment growth and continued wage increases suggests the market isn’t simply cooling across the board. It may instead point to a more selective environment, with some older workers returning to work only where pay and seniority feel worthwhile. For others, particularly those with long careers and higher financial commitments, taking a pay cut may not be an option.
The anxiety is real and the numbers back it up
It’s a situation that’s affecting older workers not just materially, but in terms of how they feel about their careers too.
Nearly six in 10 (58%) over-55s say they aren’t confident they could find a new job within three months if made redundant. They’re also 25% less likely to feel confident adapting to new technologies than their younger counterparts, a perception that affects their chances before they even reach the interview stage.
That’s not to say these frictions are solely confined to this group. In fact, six in 10 UK workers (61%) say the hiring process had made them think twice about looking for work at all. Yet for older applicants, that friction may feel sharper, particularly if they already suspect their age is counting against them before they reach the interview stage.
Enter CV botoxing
That’s where CV botoxing comes in. The term describes the practice of stripping years, dates and senior roles from a CV in order to appear younger and more appealing to employers. For a lot of mid-life candidates, it isn’t about vanity. It’s about worrying their experience won’t be judged fairly.
For SMEs operating in a tighter, more expensive market, the emergence of CV botoxing also points to a recruitment process that may be filtering out more capability than intended. Screening on tenure dates and job title seniority rather than demonstrated skills means experienced candidates are often removed from consideration before a hiring manager sees them. In a market where every hire costs more and the consequences of getting it wrong are higher, that’s a pattern worth examining and, crucially, fixing.
What employers stand to lose
“When people feel like they need to strip years off their CV just to get a foot in the door, it’s usually a sign something in the hiring process isn’t quite working,” says Danniella Angel, Talent Acquisition Manager at Employment Hero.
She adds: “For a lot of mid-life candidates, it’s less about vanity and more about worrying their experience won’t be judged fairly.
“I often speak to candidates who are more than capable of doing the job, but aren’t confident they’ll get past that first stage. That’s where a skills-based approach can really help.”
How to improve your CV
The good news is that the adjustments don’t have to be sweeping. Danniella has revealed five ways for employees to present their experience more effectively, without losing what makes them valuable.
- Be selective, not reductive. Be intentional about what you include. Focus on the experience that’s most relevant to the role you’re applying for, rather than trying to include everything.
- Translate experience into impact. Employers are focused on outcomes. Be clear on what you’ve delivered, the results you’ve driven, and how that translates into value for the role in front of you.
- Show that you’re still learning. Adaptability is a big signal employers look for, whether it’s learning new tools, getting to grips with AI, or showing how you’ve evolved your way of working over time.
- Use skills-based hiring to your advantage. As more employers adopt AI-powered, skills-based screening tools, the focus is shifting away from how a CV is presented and toward what candidates can actually do.
- Align yourself to the role level. Be thoughtful about the roles you’re applying for. When there’s a mismatch between your experience and the level of the role, it creates hesitation. When there’s alignment, your value is much clearer.
A signal worth paying attention to
CV botoxing isn’t a vanity exercise. It’s a rational response to a hiring process that’s made older workers feel they need to appear as something they’re not just to be considered.
Poor recruitment experiences are already weighing on job mobility across the wider economy. In a market where every hire costs more and experienced workers are selectively weighing up whether it’s worth re-entering at all, businesses that rely on CV screening to filter rather than find are most at risk of perpetuating the problem.
