Will axing retirement age change UK's ageist attitude?

LOYAL and uncomplicated with experience which can't be taught, or slow, burdensome, and stuck in their ways?

The argument about older workers has resurfaced after the UK government outlined plans to axe the mandatory retirement age of 65, splitting opinion across all sectors.

Older people themselves and charities welcomed the move, but business leaders said it did no-one - particularly companies with small teams - any favours.

The issue has prompted questions over whether or not, as a country, we value age and experience as an attribute in the workplace.

In a fast-paced world, young men and women fresh from university are seen as terrier-like individuals, capable of working long, furious hours with burning ambition.

So where does this leave someone in their 60s trying to make an honest living without desperately trying to prove themselves 40 years after they entered the world of work?

Bob McKinnon, from Dunbar, is an Asda manager who has helped open three stores, most recently in Tweedmouth. He is also 70, but thanks to Asda's policy of proactively hiring older people - one shared by DIY store B&Q - he is in gainful employment.

"If it wasn't for Asda I would have struggled to get anything when I was applying at the age of 65," the former manufacturer said. "Most would look at your age and you wouldn't get a shot at even an interview.

"That's because a lot of people making the decisions are much younger, and are comfortable sticking with what they know. It's pure ageism borne out of fear.

"But in my experience with older workers you find they are much more loyal and reliable. They've also got decades of work behind them, and ultimately, someone my age still working is there because they want to be there, not because they have to."

It may not simply be a matter of ageism, but perhaps sexism too.

Older men are a much more common sight on UK television than older woman, for example, with the "father and daughter" hosting partnerships, like Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby's ITV link-up magnifying this.

Broadcaster Selina Scott recently handed a dossier to former employees the BBC outlining its discrimination against women of a certain vintage and what to do about them.

She highlighted the recent departures of veteran presenters Moira Stewart, Anna Ford and Arlene Phillips, while the 59-year-old herself won a landmark age discrimination case against Channel Five in 2008.

"The dossier contains an exhaustive account of blatant and sometimes malign sexism and ageism against women within what is probably the major tastemaker and social arbiter in Britain," she writes.

It would seem she has a point when you consider that Sir Alex Ferguson, the 68-year-old Manchester United manager, is one of the most revered characters in sport.

Cllr Alastair Paisley, a Conservative councillor for Pentland Hills, is showing no sign of slowing down at the age of 72. As well as being an active member of his party and a presence in the local community, he is a key member of the city's licensing board.

He said: "Of course no-one should be made to retire. If they feel they can go on then they should be able to."

He added that senior members of the council also helped run it.

"I think we can control the wilder elements from younger councillors.

"With the licensing board the pubs usually involve younger people, and I can see why people would think there's a conflict there, but the role of the board is to be there for everyone."

The decision to abolish retirement age, which will come into effect in October next year, came after a long campaign by the charity Age UK.

Its spokesman in Scotland, Lindsay Scott, said it would also serve to protect people as an extension of employment law.

"This is a huge victory for hundreds of thousands of employees who are at risk of being forced out of their jobs simply because of their age," he said.

"Everybody stands to win from scrapping forced retirement. Public finances will receive a boost from more people paying taxes for longer.

"We believe that the traditional notions of retirement are long gone and people do not want to be told they have to stop work at a certain age."

Perhaps, as a society, we are finally becoming less age-conscious.

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