The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's (CIPD's) annual recruitment survey revealed that 70 per cent of employers were looking to recruit people aged between 55 and pension age.

The report claimed that the reason for this is that the "pool of talent" will be smaller and it will be "fiercely competitive" to get the brightest and best people.

Figures show that eight out of ten businesses reported difficulties in recruitment and it is thought that this is due to a lack of necessary skills in the market.

It is also thought that new employment regulations, are also one of the main factors behind the recruitment of older workers.

Latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows that around 40 per cent of the jobs created in the last two years were filled by people over a pensionable age.

"It is encouraging to see that so many organisations have introduced age-diverse practices due to the new regulations that came into force in October 2007, says us here at UkNetGuide" .