Employing older workers

Jun 26 2007 By The Journal

Employers were invited recently to a breakfast meeting held by Age Concern and partner organisations to discuss the topic of employing older workers.

Jobcentre Plus advisers attended to support employers at the event. A panel of experts from ACAS and law firms Samuel Phillips and Robert Muckle, along with Age Concern, discussed the pros and cons of employing older workers and provided some roaring statistics which made everyone sit up and think about the reality of the skills available from this rich resource of the labour market.

Did you know 50% of the population will be over 50 in 10 years time? Of people over the pension age, 9% are still in employment ­ and 50% of people want to work after retirement age! These astounding facts and many others were presented to more than 30 employers from industry whilst the panel were faced with many questions.

Patricia Dunn, of Jobcentre Plus, said: "Jobcentre Plus is working closely in partnership with employers and community organisations to help overcome the barriers of employing the older worker. It is a key issue especially since Age Discrimination became law in October 2006."

Julie Latimer, of Age Concern, said: "In Gateshead we are currently piloting the plight of our target audience of women aged 45-plus who have been identified as the group most vulnerable and least likely to have made pension provision. This challenge will alert these women of their future planned retirement needs to avoid becoming statistics of poverty in 20 years."