'you're treated like a dinosaur because you don't tweet': what it's like being an older worker

We're used to being told that it's young people who are struggling to find employment and careers, but older people face their own challenges. Millions of workers in their 50s and

over have been forced to postpone their retirement because of a lack of pension savings and high levels of debt, but are finding it hard to keep or find new work. We asked you what it felt

like to be an older person in the workplace and your experiences of trying to find employment. This is what you said: 'I MISS EARNING A DECENT AMOUNT' I yearned for retirement

until I was forced to stop work two years ago due to ill health brought on by stress at work. The reality of retirement is quite different to the visions of being free to do what you want

every day – particularly if you live alone, your family are not close by and your income is low. I still long for the days when I worked full tilt all day and earned a decent amount. _Anne,

63, Scotland_ 'I HAD TO LOOK AFTER MY SICK MOTHER, NOW I CAN'T FIND WORK' When I was 55, I was promised I would be able to work part-time as my mother had developed short-term

memory loss and could no longer be left alone (she was later diagnosed with dementia). A reorganisation was carried out before I was able to start part-time working and I was told that

there was no longer the opportunity for me to work part-time and no alternative offered. I left my job. My mother died in September 2014 and I decided to return to work. I have applied for

several jobs but find that recruitment processes have changed radically from when I was last interviewed, about seven years ago. I feel that the knowledge and experience gathered over many

years of practical work is no longer valid. Because of the changes in pension age brought in 2011, I cannot retire until I am in my mid-sixties and am locked into finding work where my hard

earned skills, it seems, are no longer needed or wanted. Soul destroying for a person who up until 55 has always worked. _Katie Delamare, 59, UK_ 'I HAVE TO GIVE ADVICE TO THE GUYS WHO

GOT MY JOB' The way you are perceived changes. No longer the next upcoming thing, no longer the first point of call for new challenges, you become the wise old guy in the corner to whom

the guys who got your job go to for advice. Gradually you realise that you must choose between seeing out your time with limited development chances, or getting out and giving up on your

lifestyle. _Jerry Knight, 58, Germany_ 'IF MY PARTNER DIDN'T EARN, I WOULDN'T SURVIVE FINANCIALLY' I was made redundant at the age of 58 and have found it impossible to

get employment since. Like many women, I work for a charity for free. I think it is one of the worst sectors to be in, as so many of us work for free making it almost impossible to get paid.

I have many responsibilities in the charity – I'm a board member – it is very fulfilling but were I not married to an earner it would be impossible to survive financially. I have

worked all over the world and have met many women who have started their own business – usually charity-related because they could not find work. When you ask what they did before as paid

work nearly all of them say "I was only a secretary". The only way we have been able to move into exciting and challenging work has been to work for ourselves. I just think that

for my generation there is a huge waste of talent, but we are a generation which refuses to stick to a stereotype because of our age. We all hope to work until we are well into our

seventies. _Anonymous, 60, Germany_ 'FROM THE AGE OF 40 I WAS CONSIDERED TOO OLD FOR PR JOBS' Public relations must be one of the most age sensitive industries in the UK. From the

age of 40 I found getting jobs in the commercial sector difficult, and had to move to the voluntary sector, which is more accommodating regarding age. But basically 55 is the cut-off date

for PR folk, unless you run your own business or go freelance. I'm in the "pension gap" women born in 1953-56 face. I won't get my state pension until I'm 64.5, so

what am I supposed to do workwise between 55 and 65? Work as a supermarket cashier or deliver phone directories (I might even be too old for that)? Just as my generation of women (we went to

university in the early 70s) were the first to be employed in executive and management roles, rather than secretarial, so I think we will be at the vanguard of encouraging employers and

other workers generally to consider older colleagues as a natural part of the workforce. _Kate Allsopp, 62, UK_ 'I'VE GOT NO CHANCE OF A PERMANENT JOB' After you gray out,

office jobs above clerical are out. Whatever your degrees and experience, if you leave cubicle-land, you can't go back. Heavy lifting is iffy for the sciatica set. For me, it's

meant 8-hour shifts standing at a cash register, never knowing more than a month in advance what my hours will be. Older employees musn't expect 'permanent' status, which

comes with vacations, benefits and so on. That's for younger folk who may have 'a career.' _Anonymous, 61, US _ 'PEOPLE IN THEIR 20S AND 30S DON'T RESPECT OLDER

PEOPLE' If you can get an employer to take you on at an older age I have found them reasonably fair – government legislation and employment tribunals have seen to that. The main problem

is other workers, especially those in their 20s and 30s who have no respect for your experience or knowledge. They assume you are a dinosaur because you remember the Beatles and don't

send tweets every few minutes. _Anonymous, 62, UK_ 'STARTING MY OWN BUSINESS MEANS NO ONE CAN FIRE ME' I feel more, if not most, people reaching retirement should investigate the

many benefits of starting their own business doing something they love. You control your destiny. No one can fire you. You can work from home and reach a worldwide audience by using the

internet. You save money not having to commute, eat out, pay for parking, etc. You can plan and launch your business while still working. You can work as long as you want as long as your

health holds up. Just remember: "You're never too old to become what you were meant to be." _Larry Steward, 72, US_