This month’s Saga magazine has an article "I don’t want to retire" chronicling the stories of older people who are continuing to work. I fell upon it with glee hoping it would reveal details of previously unrecognised employers who are doing great things for older workers.
But no. Of the four case studies outlined, two were from those good old guys, B&Q and British Gas, one worked as a consultant and only one for an employer previously unknown to me – a special needs school.
Now while I applaud and totally support B&Q and British Gas and their age-award-winning fellows, including Centrica, McDonalds and Sainsburys, I despair that these seem to be the ONLY organisations with age-friendly policies.
Having now researched and worked in the arena for some years, I know that the number of published UK case studies is only around the 20-30 mark. Surely there must be more?
I would love to hear about, and help promote any organisation (especially smaller businesses and not-for-profits) which is taking positive steps to support older people to remain in work and return to work.
Please get in touch if you know of any, or if you are an older worker with a good news story to report.