Forties People

Harriet Harman has challenged bosses to get the best out of people in 50-plus jobs.

The minister of state for women and equality was speaking at the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) annual conference.

Ms Harman highlighted the need to acknowledge the aspirations of older people and indicated work was required to deal with old-fashioned attitudes that surround the age group.

The onus for achieving this lies with the employers, believes Ms Harman, who noted that "employers have to draw out the skills and talents of the individual to ensure good future prospects".

This comes after the Department for Work and Pensions announced that the review of the default retirement age has been brought forward.

Last month (January 2010), Ms Harman gave a speech at an Age UK event where she stated that discrimination against older people was a problem and that the idea that people were past it at 65 should be banished to history.