Sainsbury's in drive to employ 10,000 over-50s

Sainsbury's is launching a recruitment drive aimed at the over-fifties and hopes to hire as many as 10,000 by Christmas.

The older staff will be employed mostly in stores, although there will also be some roles in personnel.

The group said it had decided to target the over-fifties because of their skills with customers and the wider range of experience they have than school leavers or younger staff.

Jane Basley, human resources director at Sainsbury's, said: "We have found that people in this age-range bring a wealth of experience and maturity to their work and their focus on customer service will undoubtedly have a positive effect on the shopping experience and help to drive sales in our stores."

Home store B&Q has long been convinced of the benefits of employing older workers.

In the late Eighties the DIY chain opened two stores staffed entirely by people over-fifty, in Macclesfield and Exmouth.