IF there are lessons to be learned by the nation about how to tackle ageism in the workplace, they will be found right here in York and North Yorkshire.

Nowhere else has there been such a stunning start to a campaign inspired by the business development unit of the York office of the Employment Service (now called Jobcentre Plus) to encourage what is being coyly described as "age diversity" among bosses.

An astonishing 160 employers and organisations turned up for a packed Employability Event at the Parsonage Country House Hotel, at Escrick, last month.

They readily decided to act now to get their good practices in shape before they are imposed by new European legislation being phased in over three years from 2003.

More than that: The response to this Age Positive campaign, was the clearest indication yet that there are hundreds of employers in our region who regard skills or potential skills as more important than age. If anything endangers profit margins it is skills shortages.

Among the many large local employers bearing witness to the positive benefits of taking on experience were CPP Card Protection Plan, Marks & Spencer, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Pocklington Coachworks of Osbaldwick, the City of York Council and GNER.

Big hitters among local organisations included the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, the area's Business Link, York Inward Investment Board and Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency.

An influential backer of the event was Jim MacAuley, chairman of Target Recruitment Training, of Piccadilly, York which began its existence as Target Third Age. The organisation helps up to 150 people of all ages per day to train in computing to help them back into work. Since its inception more than four years ago it has helped nearly 4,500 people over the age of 50 back to work.

Mr MacAulay said: "As the song goes - or should go - 'What's age got to do with it?' It has been a hell of an initiative from the employment service and I'm excited at the support it's received and the recognition of the benefits to employers of transferable skills.

The buzz phrase at the meeting was "Age Diversity". That is careful, politically correct phrasing in civil servant-speak to ensure that the young jobless, whose problems are also real, aren't left out of the loop.

But there's no doubting the extent of the dilemma in the area for people aged over 45 who are out of work.

For the first time ever their numbers have exceeded 50 per cent of the unemployed register.

In York and North Yorkshire 49.6 per cent of jobseekers unemployed for more than six months are aged 35-plus and 63 per cent are aged over 45.

At the same time, the number of jobseekers up to the age of 25 has dropped from 1,800 in 1999 to 600 last year.

But the message from speaker after speaker at this employer's rally was less about negative anti-ageism than it was about positive business advantages - of employing older people, including:

Creating a sense of mature mentoring in the workplace

Offering the stability of those who value the job and are unlikely to be fly-by-nights

Giving the benefit of skills which can be easily updated

Offering the public a sense of service with which older customers can identify

Providing a solution to the skills gap.

Nigel Pendleton, the quality and equality manager for the York and North Yorkshire district Employment Service, who organised the event, said: "It's good that enlightened employers have promised to give older workers a level playing field at interviews.

"But the fact is that the people they will interview are often disillusioned and depressed. They are not going to do themselves justice. The employers will need to take that into the equation.

"And we have a job to do in making unemployed people themselves aware of their assets or potential assets in order to market them to the full."

To that end Mr Pendleton has arranged a meeting in June with Barbara Watkins, project leader of Experience Works, a successful agency funded by East Midlands Development Agency which has launched a similar campaign.

While it succeeded in attracting only about 40 bosses there to a similar campaign conference, it organised a conference of jobseekers, which 640 people attended.

"We can learn from one another," said Mr Pendleton.

He now wants to set up an employer forum that will look at formalising strategies on key issues like diversity and skills. "It is not just about getting older people into jobs, but continuing to motivate them and benefit from them by updating their skills," he said.

Updated: 09:06 Tuesday, April 23, 2002