Business services industry urged to recognise benefits of older workers

Employers in the business services industry can benefit from employing older workers and should do more to tackle age discrimination, according to new research published today by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The report, commissioned by DWP's Age Partnership Group and Age Positive Campaigns, examined the challenges faced by the business services industry in relation to the recruitment, training and retention of older workers.

James Purnell, Minister for Pension Reform, said:
"As announced in the Pensions White Paper, we are working with employers to remove compulsory retirement ages and adopt flexible approaches. We recognise that we have an ageing population, with many older people who want the choice to continue working rather than retire.

"We know that older workers have a lower rate of absenteeism and are better motivated. And we believe that this has a positive impact for businesses who can benefit from a more flexible workforce with a wider range of skills and abilities.

"The report also gives employers good advice on how to comply with the Age Regulations. We are working closely across the sectors to ensure that businesses have all the information they need to make the necessary adjustments."

The report's key findings include:

• The Business services sector has seen rapid change and employment growth in recent years
• Attitudes to extending working life are more positive in Business services than in other sectors, with 96,000 workers over 65. Most of them are professionals working on a freelance or consultancy basis
• Despite this, the individualised nature of the work within the sector makes employees particularly vulnerable to discrimination
• 13% of firms in the sector use age to determine starting salaries and almost a quarter of firms specify maximum recruitment ages. 9% of firms use age to select for compulsory redundancy, or to set levels of compulsory redundancy pay.

The report also examines what employers are doing to remove compulsory retirement ages and adopt flexible approaches, as set out in the Pensions White Paper, as well as looking at how the age legislation affects young people in the workforce.

Source: onrec.com