'Age shouldn't matter' - apprentice, 64

A woman who became an apprentice in her sixties says you are never too old to learn new skills.

Linda Booth, from Morley in Leeds, is hoping others will follow suit after a charity said it was seeing an increase in older people choosing to work longer because they cannot afford to retire.

Age UK Hull and East Yorkshire said more people in their late fifties and early sixties were turning to them for advice after losing their jobs.

Ms Booth, who was made redundant by her previous employer, is urging others not to be put off from applying for jobs. She said: "Age shouldn't matter. Get your confidence back, apply for jobs and it will make you feel a lot better."

Now 64, Ms Booth is almost a year into her apprenticeship as a business administrator at Springfield Training Ltd, which works with businesses and employees across Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.

She saw the position advertised at a job fair and applied, despite feeling her age would go against her.

"I thought they would go for somebody younger, but I was told at the time that any age can apply," she said.

"It's about whether you feel you can do the job. It's about your attitude towards it.

"I thought it would be something new to learn and I felt excited."

Noel Johnson, CEO of Springfield Training Ltd, said: "Linda has been an incredible fit for the Springfield team. At 64 years old, she brings positivity, kindness and a love for learning."

Ms Booth said she wanted more employers to be open to the idea of employing older people.

She added older people should not be afraid to learn something new.

Ms Booth said: "They probably don't think they can do the job because they haven't done it before. I thought that to begin with but you learn new skills.

"Employers need to give older people a chance to carry on working in life. Not every workforce needs to be young people. You need a mixture of people to get on with everybody."

Andrew Haynes, chief executive of Age UK Hull and East Yorkshire, believes the main reason older people are choosing to work is down to financial pressures.

He said: "We are already seeing it, both in terms of people seeking our advice who are too young to retire because their pension pot isn't available and those people who have retired but can't afford to not work, so they are coming out of retirement to top up for financial means."

The Centre for Ageing Better said more than a third of 50 to 70 year olds feel at a disadvantage when applying for jobs due to their age, and that employees aged 55 and over are least likely to have received retraining.

Mr Haynes said Age UK Hull and East Yorkshire's next aim was to promote older people within the workplace and to overcome what he believes is a stigma attached to age.

He added: "A recent article in the Times newspaper showed when applying for jobs a lot of recruiters think 57 is too old. That's 10 years away from the current state retirement age."

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