Employers 'will miss out on talent'

Employers will miss out on the talent offered by older workers if they continue to await action by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over retirement, it has been claimed.

According to the results of a study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), any wait by employers for the ECJ to abandon legislation governing obligatory retirement requirements may result in recruitment opportunities being missed, reports Recruiter Magazine.

"Abolishing mandatory retirement would give older workers more choice and flexibility in deciding how and when they stop working," said Dianah Worman, diversity adviser for the CIPD.

"[It] would also benefit business and the wider economy by encouraging better management of older workers and extending access to a wider pool of skilled and experienced labour," she added.

Indeed, according to the study of 255 employers, out of every five, one has found the current rules governing retirement to be prohibitive when it came to offering employment to candidates over the age of 65.

The CIPD was established in 2000.