Employers are being urged to fight ageism at work after new figures showed thousands of over-50s in Brighton and Hove do not have jobs.

Statistics highlighted by the Department for Work and Pensions' Age Positive campaign reveal the city has one of the lowest employment rates in the country for people between 50 and 69.

Despite an older population of more than 50,000, only 52 per cent of these are in employment.

This places Brighton and Hove 93rd in a league table of 150 towns, cities and counties in England.

Launched on Monday, Age Positive Week aims to challenge age stereotypes at work and promote positive examples of employers and employees defying ageism. Sussex and Surrey business association Cadia welcomed the campaign. Chief executive Jeremy Taylor said the 50 to 69 age group generally had good experience of the world of work.

He said: "They have a lot to offer in terms of commitment and understanding of doing a good day's work. I can understand employers who have concerns about the length of service from a more mature applicant but generally they will provide a dedicated service, show leadership and can also add life experience to the role."

DIY store B&Q, which has a base in Pavilion Retail Park, Lewes Road, Brighton, is known as one of the country's leading employers of people aged over 50.

A spokeswoman said: "Our policy is very much to do with being positive about work. We look at the people with the ability to do a job rather than what age they are. More than 25 per cent of our workforce is over 50."

East Sussex has an older population of 131,000 but only 53.4 per cent are employed. This puts the county 79th in the league. In West Sussex, 58.7 per cent of the 1,790,000 older people work, putting the county 46th in the league.

Slough employs the highest proportion of older workers (74 per cent) and Hartlepool the least (32 per cent).

The Government will introduce new legislation in October making age discrimination at work illegal.

Department for Work and Pensions minister James Plaskitt said: "We have to make sure employment opportunities are open to all, young and old."

Wednesday, May 10, 2006