Employers seeking to enforce the default retirement age of 65 years could be missing out on a wealth of experience.
Mature workers who have weathered previous economic downturns and recessions can be a valuable source of knowledge for businesses in the current climate..
100-year-old Jack Yaffe, for example, still works the family store he founded in 1934, and has outlived Woolworths, founded the year he was born. His daughter-in-law Evelyn, who now runs the store, said: “He still sits in his chair and directs us from there or is out front talking to the customers.
“There is no way he would retire at 65 years. He was still climbing ladders and stocking the shelves until he was 85 [years old].”
Earlier this month, a debate was tabled by Baroness Greengross in the House of Lords, garnering support for a campaign by the Employers Forum on Age to scrap the default retirement age.
The government will conduct a review of the default retirement age in 2011.