Coming to grips with the long, slow march of ageism in the workplace

Although just into his 80s by that time and unable to handle a full week, that reporter was still doing useful police rounds work.
I also knew one work-experience youth I had for just one day but whom I remember vividly because everything seemed to be too much trouble for him. Directly after lunch, he started declaring that he did not want to be kept too long as he had forms to fill out at the end of the day. (The forms would take, perhaps, a few minutes.) I managed to keep him long enough to type a paragraph or two into a computer, for exercise, before letting him go, thinking that he wasn't my problem.

This is not to say that all young people are hopeless and all older workers paragons of virtue. I have also met hopeless older workers - people who really should be eased out of their jobs as they are making life difficult for all those around them. Unlike their younger counterparts, they often cannot be moved somewhere else or sent back for training, or told anything. They stopped listen 20 years ago, if they ever listened in the first place.

However, on balance, older workers may have had some more sense knocked into them, and are less likely to be subject to the "problems" of youth. They are less likely to be falling into or out of love, occasionally with co-workers, having babies or marriage crises, or suddenly deciding to travel.

Fortunately, the rising, about-to-be-old cohort of workers has demographics working in their favour. The steady stream of young people coming through the system will soon start to dry up. Employers will have to start hiring over-45s or not have anyone to run their businesses.

Declaration of interest: okay, I'm - mumble - 47. So there!