The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has revealed an upturn in the number of older women in the workplace.

According to figures from the group, 200,000 females aged between 50 and 64 are currently in employment in the UK. This is 6.2 per cent higher than the amount recorded four years ago.

Dr John Philpott, the CIPD's chief economic adviser, said older people have "clearly fared better" than their younger counterparts when it comes to finding work during the economic slump.

But with older females doing particularly well, the perception that there are very few careers for women of a certain age may be becoming increasingly outdated.

Indeed, Dr Philpott said women aged 50 to 64 have done better than any other demographic throughout the last four years.

He cited a number of reasons why this may be the case, such as the fact that people are living much longer than they used to. Furthermore, many workers are choosing not to take early retirement, either as a lifestyle decision or because they cannot afford to do so.

Despite his own observations, Dr Philpott is keen to see more research done into precisely why older females are performing so well in the labour market right now.

"It is older women that are getting most of the available jobs - just why this is happening requires further examination," he said.

"The economically active older woman is well on course to be ever more prominent in British workplaces in the coming years."

Dr Philpott noted that having more older people in the workplace leaves employers facing "both challenges and opportunities". This, he said, is because bosses could soon find it increasingly difficult to fill vacancies in their firm if they do not take on and keep hold of older workers.

He added that while progress on getting older people into the workplace is clearly being made, efforts to tell businesses why having an age diverse workforce is good for them should not ease off.

Dr Philpott said this is especially important because lots of the focus on existing problems in the labour market is currently being placed on young people.