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The current economic climate has led more people to work into their old age and has created a generation of so-called 'silver staffers'. Now the government is planning to raise the official retirement age in staggered stages, which will help to deal with the issue in the long term, but what about in the short term? Current legislation gives employers the right to dismiss workers if they are 65 or over without redundancy pay and they can refuse to take someone on if they are over the official retirement age. The CIPD recently found that the number of workers aged over 55 who wanted to put off their retirement has risen to more than 70 per cent this year, compared with 40 per cent two years ago. Around 100,000 employees were forced into retirement in the last 12 months and companies may have used the legislation to reduce their staff costs. Charities Age Concern and Help the Aged told People Management Magazine that it believes the number of firms using the law as a cost management tool soared during the economic downturn. The charities found that more than 1,000 workers aged 60 to 70 thought companies were using retirement as a "cheap and easy alternative" to redundancy. It does not seem right that silver staffers should have to suffer during the downturn, as they bring years of experience to the workplace which can help younger employees in their development. Why should older employees be forced to leave their posts as soon as they turn 65? The knowledge they have acquired is no less valuable to a company and their highly-developed skills are still important. Margaret Davison-Scott was forced to retire from two part-time posts when she turned 65. "One person said they had to free jobs up for younger people, but the kind of jobs I was doing - part-time as a librarian and in the housing department - weren't the kind of things you would sign off benefits for," she told the Guardian. Getting rid of older experienced workers to accommodate youngsters is not right and is nonsensical for companies who are trying to turn a profit in difficult times. With Careers and Jobs, you can view all the latest jobs, browse UK jobs by sector, and keep up to date with the latest UK job news. You’ll also find expert career advice and help with CV writing to help land that dream job.
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