A million older workers 'on scrap heap'

Published on Tuesday 15 August 2006 01:54

A MILLION workers aged 50-65 cannot get jobs because of a lack of investment by employers, according to a report by the TUC.

The trade union organisation said workers were being put on the "scrap heap" when they were still keen to work and blamed a failure to put cash into retraining for those over 50.

TUC deputy general secretary Frances O'Grady urged employers to conduct an "age audit" of staff to stop discrimination and retain older workers. He warned that government plans to curb public spending increases by raising the retirement age would not work if older people could not find jobs and were forced to claim unemployment and incapacity benefits.

The government announced in May plans to raise the state pension age to 68 by 2046, announced in May in a white paper, but that may lead only to "higher spending on other services and benefits" unless employers changed their attitudes towards hiring and retaining older workers, O'Grady warned.

He said: "Most baby boomers are not retiring early to cruise around the world or go bungee jumping. They have been dumped out of work and on to the scrap heap and are scraping by on benefits or small work pensions. By refusing to retain and recruit older staff who want to work, employers are accelerating the demographic time bomb the economy is resting on."

The TUC study suggested just one in eight jobless people had taken early retirement and the organisation predicted the size of the potential workforce aged between 50 and 69 would rise by 17 per cent over the next decade.

However, the CBI insisted more firms were prepared to hire older people. Director of human resources policy Susan Anderson said: "Employers are very aware of the advantages which older people offer, especially their attitude to work and their customer service skills, so where possible they will do all they can to hire and retain them."