JGP News

Employees may not be able to make the best use of talent pools by continuing to wait for the European Court of Justice to put an end to the mandatory age of retirement, it has been suggested.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the legislation has stopped a fifth of employers from offering jobs to those workers aged 65 or above, which in turn could have an impact on organisations looking for talent on demand.

Dianah Worman, diversity adviser for CIPD, said: "Our research finds older workers generally perform better, are more loyal and reliable and they have lower sickness absence rates than other jobless groups.

"At a time when organisations continue to face recruitment and retention difficulties older workers are not a group that employers can afford to ignore."

She added that the abolishment of such requirements will not only allow older staff, including those with jobs in the public sector, greater flexibility about how and where they work but could help firms with employee retention and grant them "access to a wider pool of skilled and experienced labour".

Earlier this week, research conducted by Jobcentre Plus showed that both younger and older workers value the benefits of a workplace consisting of staff at various ages, news which could be beneficial for public sector companies wishing to make use of regional recruitment systems.

More about age discrimination.