Eden Brown MD condemns CBI’s attitude to fixed retirement age

Ian Wolter, managing director of recruitment consultancy Eden Brown, has condemned the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI’s) attitude towards retaining the current mandatory retirement age as ’nonsense’.

Mr Wolter criticised Digby Jones, Director-General of the CBI, for earlier this month urging the Government to stick to a fixed retirement age thereby denying employees the automatic right to remain in work after 65.

He told an Age Concern Conference on tackling age discrimination that ageism was currently the most common form of workplace discrimination.

Mr Wolter strongly believes that age is irrelevant in the work place and wants people’s employment to be based on their ability to do the job not their age.

He criticised Mr Jones’ belief that without a formal retirement age, employers would not be able to get rid of older workers.

In reality, he said, statistics from the Eden Brown Employee Attitudes Survey show that only five per cent of the workforce expects to work beyond their 65th birthday.

Mr Wolter said: What I understand Mr Jones to be saying is that if there is no normal age of retirement we will have to think about other ways of getting rid of older workers. And this might be embarrassing or undignified for both parties.

At what point, I wonder, does age become a factor here - is it over 60, or would he be embarrassed to discuss someone’s ability to do their job if they are 55 or 50.

I have rarely heard such nonsense.

The picture he paints is of offices full of wrinkly older workers who can’t do their job and won’t leave. And their young managers tip toeing around them too embarrassed to say anything.

This is insulting to CBI members, many of whom are age positive employers.

He added: Very few of us want to work indefinitely but most of us don’t want to be told when to retire.

In 2006 new legislation will outlaw age discrimination in employment.
Mr Wolter wants to see the CBI urging its members to value the contribution of older workers.

He said: The best way to serve older people is not to positively discriminate in their favour; it is to demonstrate that this age group is as talented, valuable and varied as any other.

We, as employers, must learn to harness the talent, skills and knowledge of as wide a pool of labour as possible, as soon as possible.