Discrimination holds back young workers

Young people are just as likely to experience age discrimination as older people, according to a report by the Employers' Forum on Age (EFA). Nearly half of 18-30 year-olds believe that they have been held back at work because of their age.

Ruth Jarratt of the EFA says that employers need to focus on recruiting and retraining young people, especially in view of skills shortages.

She also calls for the government to put more weight behind its voluntary code of practice on ageism introduced over a year ago. The EFA also believes that discrimination in smaller firms is a particular problem, where people tend to consider length of service rather than potential.

"Ageism affects all employees The sooner the government realises this, the sooner it can tackle the £26 billion cost to it in lost production", Jarratt said.