Businesses are unprepared for forthcoming rules outlawing age discrimination, new research warns.
From October 2006, it will be illegal to refuse someone a job, promotion, training or benefits because of their age.
But according to the Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI), released on Thursday, one third of firms have no plans to change company policies to comply with the legislation.
Although the government is keen to encourage workers to delay their retirement, the research showed employers are oblivious to the impact of social and legal changes on the UK labour market.
A fifth were unaware of the ever declining pool of young workers to recruit from, with many still holding onto traditional stereotypes about age.
Some 45% of bosses believed older workers lack technical skills, while a quarter thought they are slow to learn.
Over half viewed young employers as prone to sick leave and 37% thought they are unreliable.
Shaun Tyson, from the Cranfield School of Management, which carried out the study, said: "There is clearly a sizeable minority of employers for whom ageism is a non-issue.
"They are making a big mistake because attitudes towards age are not just about compliance with the law, but are about the availability of high quality people in the workforce. Good people come in every race, gender and age."
