Businesses should take more advantage of the growing number of older workers.

That is the message from employers and recruiters who have experienced the benefits of recruiting older staff.

Research suggests many companies are failing to change recruitment policies which discriminate against older workers, despite the increasing role the older generation will play in the workforce of the future.

A survey of personnel managers published late last year by Fish4jobs.com found almost threequarters of companies had a mandatory retirement age, most of them forcing workers to retire at 65.

It revealed only one in 25 organisations had anyone aged over 65 on its staff and three out of four regarded age as a factor when it came to recruitment.

Craig Anderson, commercial manager of Rewards Training Recruitment Consultancy, said employers and employees need to do more.

He set up Brighton-based recruitment agency Thinkwell to find jobs for people over the age of 45.

The company won the best small business award at the 2002 Sussex Business Awards ceremony before Haywards Heath-based Rewards acquired a controlling interest in it.

He said: "There are a number of companies in Brighton and Hove which say they support age positive recruitment but, while many of the larger ones have good recruitment policies, many small and medium-sized businesses don't."

Craig said there were many positive benefits to employing older workers, including less problems with absenteeism and productivity.

He said: "The old adage you can't teach an old dog new tricks is a myth. When Thinkwell first started working with companies many of them were not very keen.

"However, once they realised how age positive policies can positively impact on their bottom line they became more interested."

David Miranda, director of Brighton-based telemarketers AMT Partnership, said his company had "extremely positive experiences" of employing older people.

He said: "Mature individuals often have a much calmer way about them and they are far less likely to just up and leave you.

"They also have a good understanding of business issues because they've had more critical life experience than many younger people and we are keen to harness those abilities."

Mr Miranda said older people also had less to prove, adding: "They know who they are, where they are and where they want to be and tend to stick around.

"We look for business experience or a mature outlook because we deal with senior individuals at companies.

"Older people are deciding to carry on working for a number of reasons - they might need to because of the falling value of pensions or they might just want to keep their brains active."

Albert McVittie, 58, from Burgess Hill, joined AMT after a varied career. A qualified biochemist, he has also been a sales rep, a marketing marketing manager and a financial adviser and ran his own business for three years.

He said: "I have lots of experience and I don't need to have a script to work. I can talk to people purely because of the knowledge I've gained during the years.

"I would not hesitate to recommend older workers to other companies. We have the experience, the expertise and the social skills to discuss important issues with a range of people and that can only be good for business."

Steve Morris, of Inkfish's Brighton call centre, said having a mix of employees was good.

He said: "There are obvious behavioural benefits because older people tend to be a positive steadying influence.

"They have a wealth of experience we can tap into.

Unfortunately, many employers seem to have bought into the urban myth that you need young people to run a dynamic business and they haven't bothered to consider the older population and the benefits they can bring.

"The most important thing is employing people who are young at heart."

The main issue for companies, especially young ones, was making sure older workers are part of the company culture.

Phil Standen, 47, from Brighton, has been working at Inkfish for more than a year.

He said: "My age wasn't a problem here but I'd attended lots of interviews in which my age seemed to cause problems. Nothing was said but there seemed to be doubt as to how well I would fit in.

"It's a shame because companies are missing out on older people's skills, especially their life skills."

www.agepositive.gov.uk