Envisioning Age - Resilient Careers
Empowering UK housekeeping women aged 40–50 to transition into less physically demanding, future-ready career paths, enabling a better quality of life in later years.
Year
2025
Role
Service, UX/UI Design
Client
Royal College of Art
/ Background
This project is part of the Independent Research module within the Royal College of Art’s Service Design program. We began by exploring themes such as workplace wellbeing, lifelong learning, upskilling, and career transition and re-entry support, with a specific focus on women in midlife (ages 40 to 50) as they approach and experience retirement in their later years, typically around their 70s.
46% of UK working adults fear they may never afford retirement, with over 1 million already working past retirement age. Around 100,000 housekeeping women in their 40s–50s are especially vulnerable, facing physically demanding jobs that become unsustainable with age. Limited savings, low pensions, and few age-friendly career paths put their futures at risk. Barriers like lack of time, language challenges, and limited exposure to alternatives hinder upward mobility. The opportunity lies in designing inclusive interventions that create access to sustainable, age-resilient work and pathways to financial security.
/ Process
We began by interviewing hospitality leaders and ageing-focused organisations to gain a broad understanding of the challenges mature women face in the sector. Building on this, we co-created life journey maps with mature hospitality workers, uncovering their daily struggles, decision-making processes, and aspirations. These insights informed the development of our solution, which we tested and refined with them to ensure it was both relevant and empowering. Using the theory of change, we shaped the service idea into a clear, outcomes-driven proposition. In parallel, we engaged key stakeholders such as the Department of Work and Pensions, hospitality employers, and recruiters to validate the concept and explore how it could create value for both jobseekers and the industry. This collaborative and multi-perspective process ensured the solution was empathetic and actionable.
/ Outcome
Our proposed solution is Shift — a support service designed to help mature housekeeping women transition into lighter, age-resilient career paths. It brings together four key stakeholders: the Department for Work and Pensions, upskilling providers, former housekeepers who now serve as mentors, and hospitality employers. By connecting these fragmented resources through WhatsApp — a familiar and widely used platform — Shift makes career progression more accessible, approachable, and available anytime.
Envisioning Age - Resilient Careers
Empowering UK housekeeping women aged 40–50 to transition into less physically demanding, future-ready career paths, enabling a better quality of life in later years.
Year
2025
Role
Service, UX/UI Design
Client
Royal College of Art
/ Background
This project is part of the Independent Research module within the Royal College of Art’s Service Design program. We began by exploring themes such as workplace wellbeing, lifelong learning, upskilling, and career transition and re-entry support, with a specific focus on women in midlife (ages 40 to 50) as they approach and experience retirement in their later years, typically around their 70s.
46% of UK working adults fear they may never afford retirement, with over 1 million already working past retirement age. Around 100,000 housekeeping women in their 40s–50s are especially vulnerable, facing physically demanding jobs that become unsustainable with age. Limited savings, low pensions, and few age-friendly career paths put their futures at risk. Barriers like lack of time, language challenges, and limited exposure to alternatives hinder upward mobility. The opportunity lies in designing inclusive interventions that create access to sustainable, age-resilient work and pathways to financial security.
/ Process
We began by interviewing hospitality leaders and ageing-focused organisations to gain a broad understanding of the challenges mature women face in the sector. Building on this, we co-created life journey maps with mature hospitality workers, uncovering their daily struggles, decision-making processes, and aspirations. These insights informed the development of our solution, which we tested and refined with them to ensure it was both relevant and empowering. Using the theory of change, we shaped the service idea into a clear, outcomes-driven proposition. In parallel, we engaged key stakeholders such as the Department of Work and Pensions, hospitality employers, and recruiters to validate the concept and explore how it could create value for both jobseekers and the industry. This collaborative and multi-perspective process ensured the solution was empathetic and actionable.
/ Outcome
Our proposed solution is Shift — a support service designed to help mature housekeeping women transition into lighter, age-resilient career paths. It brings together four key stakeholders: the Department for Work and Pensions, upskilling providers, former housekeepers who now serve as mentors, and hospitality employers. By connecting these fragmented resources through WhatsApp — a familiar and widely used platform — Shift makes career progression more accessible, approachable, and available anytime.
Envisioning Age - Resilient Careers
Empowering UK housekeeping women aged 40–50 to transition into less physically demanding, future-ready career paths, enabling a better quality of life in later years.
Year
2025
Role
Service, UX/UI Design
Client
Royal College of Art
/ Background
This project is part of the Independent Research module within the Royal College of Art’s Service Design program. We began by exploring themes such as workplace wellbeing, lifelong learning, upskilling, and career transition and re-entry support, with a specific focus on women in midlife (ages 40 to 50) as they approach and experience retirement in their later years, typically around their 70s.
46% of UK working adults fear they may never afford retirement, with over 1 million already working past retirement age. Around 100,000 housekeeping women in their 40s–50s are especially vulnerable, facing physically demanding jobs that become unsustainable with age. Limited savings, low pensions, and few age-friendly career paths put their futures at risk. Barriers like lack of time, language challenges, and limited exposure to alternatives hinder upward mobility. The opportunity lies in designing inclusive interventions that create access to sustainable, age-resilient work and pathways to financial security.
/ Process
We began by interviewing hospitality leaders and ageing-focused organisations to gain a broad understanding of the challenges mature women face in the sector. Building on this, we co-created life journey maps with mature hospitality workers, uncovering their daily struggles, decision-making processes, and aspirations. These insights informed the development of our solution, which we tested and refined with them to ensure it was both relevant and empowering. Using the theory of change, we shaped the service idea into a clear, outcomes-driven proposition. In parallel, we engaged key stakeholders such as the Department of Work and Pensions, hospitality employers, and recruiters to validate the concept and explore how it could create value for both jobseekers and the industry. This collaborative and multi-perspective process ensured the solution was empathetic and actionable.
/ Outcome
Our proposed solution is Shift — a support service designed to help mature housekeeping women transition into lighter, age-resilient career paths. It brings together four key stakeholders: the Department for Work and Pensions, upskilling providers, former housekeepers who now serve as mentors, and hospitality employers. By connecting these fragmented resources through WhatsApp — a familiar and widely used platform — Shift makes career progression more accessible, approachable, and available anytime.