AGEISM is so rife in the British workplace that people have only five years in their entire working life during which they are unlikely to be judged too young or too old for a job, according to a new report.

People management experts, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), say that as many as one in five have been discouraged from applying for a job because it contained an age restriction.

The CIPD evidence, endorsed by similar findings from the Department for Work and Pensions, also finds that although age prejudice is much worse for people over 40, one in 12 under-35s have been told they were too young to be considered.

Twice this number believe they have been rejected for being too young, but have no evidence. Such ill-founded bigotry has shrunk the perceived perfect age to a lamentable half a decade during an average working life of nearly 50 years.

Dianah Worman, CIPD diversity adviser, said: "Age discrimination is costly to business given that older workers achieve the same levels of performance as younger workers. In fact, the business case for employing older workers seems more compelling as they are more likely to stay in their jobs for longer - the cost of replacing staff is more than £3,500 on average."

But within three years, British employers will be acting illegally if they let age prejudice influence their recruitment. In a specially-commissioned briefing document, the CIPD warns employers that they need to start changing their ways straight away instead of waiting for the Government to implement legislation from Europe in 2006.

"Waiting for legislation, which in itself could trigger knee-jerk, damage-limitation responses, will be too late, and may leave companies exposed to legal risks," says the document, The Challenge of the Age.

As the UK has an ageing population, it points out organisations fixated by youth are in danger of alienating millions of potential customers. Dianah continued: "The CIPD says that judging people by their age creates artificial problems in the labour market and effectively blinds organisations to obvious sources of talent. But with a shrinking younger population and a growing older one, employers will have to change.

"Employers will require an understanding of how to manage, recruit, reward, train and motivate employees across all age ranges, and at all stages of their careers. In addition, the whole concept of retirement will have to be reassessed."

The Pensions Green Paper, put forward by the Government and expected to come into force soon after the law on age discrimination, contains tax and pension changes to encourage people to work for longer.

The CIPD points out that, by 2050, there will be only two working people to support every pensioner.

The Challenge of the Age is one of the Change Agenda series of "think pieces" to help organisations improve their practices. A complete list is available at www.cipd.co.uk/