Just the job for busy pensioners

ONE in five people came out of retirement to go back to work last year. This year the figure is set to rise even further, with as many as 34 per cent of people aged between 65 and 74 finding work, be it full, part-time or voluntary, according to a survey by Norwich Union

Ian Beggs, research director of Norwich Union, said that, while some people found retirement a positive experience, "for others, the impact of giving up work for good is a real blow".

Four per cent of people return to work simply because they need the money. But most do so from choice.

"The feelings generated from retirement range from freedom, release and 'the great escape', to a sense of loss, no longer feeling like a contributor, and, in some cases, loss of self-esteem," Mr Beggs said.

When the Pensions Policy Institute argued that the retirement age in Britain should be raised to 70 to combat the growing pensions crisis, there was widespread criticism. Yet, at the same time, a survey carried out by the Employers Forum on Age discovered that 40 per cent of those who had retired early felt they were forced to do so against their will.

Nearly two-thirds of those questioned in the survey said they were against a compulsory retirement age.

And attitudes towards older people in the workplace are changing rapidly. Experience is beginning to tell.

While whiz kids are learning phrases such as "blue-sky thinking" to wow the bosses at head office, the customers prefer people who can tell them how to mend a fence -- or make decent pastry.

And the big employers are noticing. A European Union directive to combat age discrimination in the workplace is set to come into force in 2006, but many firms don't want to wait that long because demographics are telling them an alarming story right now.

By 2006, 45-to-59-year-olds will form the largest working group. A slowdown in the birth rate has led to a dramatic decrease in the number of younger people in the workforce.

One firm that has already realised the value of older employees with knowledge and experience is B&Q.

Chief executive, Bill Whiting, aged 55, said: "Eleven years ago we opened a B&Q store in Macclesfield staffed entirely by people aged over 50.

"Independent research two years later showed that our Macclesfield store performed equally well or better than an average B&Q store in respect of sales, profit, staff turnover and customer satisfaction. This research also indicated that experience, knowledge and attitude contributed to the quality of service. Since then, the company has continued to develop our over-50s recruitment policy.

"Out of the 320 B&Q stores nationwide, a total of 6,300 employees are aged 50 or over -- this amounts to 19 per cent of B&Q's total workforce." Retailer Asda says that 15 per cent of its workforce is over 50, and has set itself a target of 20 per cent within 12 months.

One senior executive with a Blue Chip company said: "Businesses can't afford to gamble on kids any more. The business cycle is too complex, and we're seeing the chaotic results all over the place. All levels of British industry are beginning to see older people as a safe pair of hands.

"They are more reliable, they have more experience, and they are more interested in doing a good job than in seeing what's in it for them. It won't be long before being old at a job interview will count in your favour."

Bernard Bleers, aged 71, came out of retirement and has worked as a signwriter at the B & Q warehouse in Bolton since March, 2001.

He said: "I'd been a signwriter for 55 years, ever since I left school. I had done other jobs as well, managers and sales managers, but I'd always kept the signwriting on as my own business.

"I'm divorced, and I retired at 65. Then my daughter went to university in Edinburgh and decided to stay up there. The first thing I thought was, 'I'll see if I can get a job'.

"The thing was, I'd always been an active person with a lot of hobbies -- photography and cycling are my main ones -- but hobbies don't pay, so the idea of going back to work was partly to supplement my pension, and partly because I had a lot of time on my hands."

Not as easy as he might have thought, though. Despite being active enough to embarrass men 40 years his junior (mentioning no names), it seemed that potential employers were simply discouraged by the image they had of someone who was then pushing 70.

Bernard said: "I had tried several firms, applying for jobs as a signwriter or graphic designer, with my portfolio, and they all came back and said 'your work is great, but you're simply too old'.

"I didn't necessarily think things would be any different here, but they were. They showed real enthusiasm for the work I'd done, and I was taken on. The good thing is you don't get treated like an old person, you're just treated like one of the team by everyone, from top management to your colleagues on the shop floor. In a busy environment like this, everyone just has to get on with it."

Bernard's day usually starts around 7am, and he finishes at about 4pm. He added: "I've always been an early starter, so there's no problem there. The more energy you devote to it, the more energy you have. The work keeps me young."

For those of us who dislike shopping, the idea of working all your life in retail, then spending your "retirement" years surrounded by the stuff, sounds like a living hell.

Sixty-eight-year-old Maureen Mitchell, who works at the Asda store at Middlebrook, is living proof that the opposite can be true. Born -- literally -- in Coronation Street (just off Regent Road, Salford), Maureen spent much of her childhood in India. She returned, and had been a district midwife for the old Lancashire County, and then in Wigan, for more than 30 years.

Maureen, who lives in Blackrod, said: "I retired as a full-time midwife eight years ago and I was working on the nursing 'bank' -- on call as and when needed to step in. That work stopped because there was no money, and so I was officially fully retired."

Maureen's husband had been made redundant at the age of 58, and the best laid plans fell apart.

She said: "We found that the bills went bigger rather than smaller as time went on. The cost of living is always going up. The mortgage was paid off on the house, but we keep Irish Wolfhounds and to look after them is not cheap. And nor is anything else."

So she did something about it. She explained: "I applied to Asda, went through the interview, and I will have been here five years in March.

"To be honest, I was a bit nervous at first, because I was in my 60s, and I was coming into a job where there were a lot of young people, and I wondered how hard it would be to fit in.

"It wasn't hard at all. Everyone here is great. You certainly aren't made to feel your age."

There is a team ethic here that works across all ages. I really don't think age matters any more. It's whether you can do the job."