What can I do at 55

[peasepudding]

I am very likely to be made redundant this year, I work in a civil service/ arms length body type role.

I have some health issues which means I am no longer particularly high performing though I do my best. The job market looks terrible and I will be competing with lots of other public sector types for any roles that are available.

I can't retire and am a single parent to two young adults/teens.

I could possibly retrain if the training was reasonably short and a job was guaranteed at the end of it, but I am not sure that exists.

Any ideas? I'm getting quite depressed by this

What's an arms length body role?

Depends on what sort of work you want to do, salary expectations, working hours/pattern etc.

I need to earn at least £40k, ideally more. Am in a big city I'd that helps.

Arms length body is an organisation that is like the civil service but not directly part of the civil service.

Which ALB? Most CS related redundancies are voluntary ones.

Will you not be placed into a redeployment pool?

Are you applying for CS internal jobs? Assuming your ALB are entitled to of course but I'd expect your management to have made it clear what you're facing if the process is underway. Have you had your consultation interview yet?

You could always try corporate operations roles? Operations management roles value civil service experience and if you can demonstrate flexibility then you shouldn’t find it difficult to land one. That said the market is very hard generally for roles over 40k now. I’ve had to take a paycut and move part time with another company but luckily it still takes me over 40k but as you can see companies are reducing their staff burn rate and higher paid management roles are often the first to go.

NHSE?
if so there may be lots of opportunities

Yes NHSE. In a policy role.

If you’re 55 and being made redundant, will you qualify to have your full pension paid early? It’s worth asking. If so, you’d only need to take a minimum wage role.
If not, start applying for anything in local government/councils close to you now. Depending on the area of the country, £40k might be hard to get but it depends on your skills.