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 People aged 50-plus looking for jobs in London often feel up against it when they find themselves in competition with younger applicants.
But momentum behind a change in the law - including scrapping the default retirement age - has been building up steadily in recent weeks.
Indeed, the government's Equality Bill is currently being scrutinised in the House of Lords, which means measures to outlaw discrimination against people on the basis of their age could be enshrined in law very soon.
Equality minister and Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman has been among the most vocal critics of age discrimination, dismissing the idea that a person should be considered "past it" when they reach the age of 60.
She acknowledged that more has to be done to tackle this attitude among employers, as older people have a valuable contribution to make to the wider economy.
"We have to banish the ageism in the workplace that costs an estimated £31 billion per year due to lost GDP," Ms Harman stated.
The equality minister stated that the government is committed to ending age discrimination wherever it arises, hence the measures outlined in the Equality Bill.
Ms Harman's comments have been met with a positive response from a number of business groups and financial experts.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), for instance, has been keen to stress that most of its members do not believe there should be a default retirement age.
John Wright, national chairman of the group, said many small business owners understand the valuable contribution and skills that older workers bring to a firm.
As a result, they have "no intention of putting in place a blanket policy to retire their staff at 65".
A recent survey by the FSB indicated that employers are acting on this point of view, as 60 per cent of respondents said they have people aged 50-plus in various jobs.
Figures also showed that eight out of ten small businesses do not use the default retirement age for their staff, as many believe retirement should be based on a mutual decision between the employer and the employee.
Independent policy adviser Dr Ros Altmann has also backed recent moves towards a change in the law, saying that taking steps to protect workers who want to stay on past the age of 65 is long overdue.
She stated that older workers bring substantial benefits to the workplace in terms of their experience, motivation and loyalty.
As a result, she believes that not taking advantage of these resources would be a considerable waste.
This, she continued, could in turn help to tackle the UK's pensions crisis, as the state pension is "hopelessly inadequate", while private pensions are not delivering the kind of lifestyle people would expect to enjoy.
Ms Altmann also noted that people are living much longer these days, which means they can no longer be considered old by the time they are in their 60s.
"Harriet Harman is absolutely correct to call for an end to mandatory retirement and age discrimination against the over-65s," she commented.
Ms Altmann said legislation introduced in recent years has ensured that work is not as physically demanding or as dangerous as it once was.
This, she asserted, makes working environments today perfectly suitable for older people.
The policy adviser added that changing the system to help older workers could be a very popular move politically ahead of the upcoming general election, which must be held by June 2010 at the latest.
"Harriet Harman has hit on a possible winner," Ms Altmann stated.
"The over-50s are the majority of voters."
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