There is still a great deal of unspoken age discrimination occurring in the workplace, according to one industry expert.

Rachel Krys, campaign director for the Employers Forum on Age, said any 50 or 60-year-old in the jobs market may believe that they have all the qualifications necessary, but they are not able to get past the first stage.

Although she maintained that legislation for age discrimination has done a lot to combat the issue, Ms Krys said these problems could affect those in public sector jobs. Ms Krys noted that employers might look through the details of those who have had a few places of work and deem them over qualified.

"What they mean is, 'I don't understand this and I don't know how to manage that person'."

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics earlier this month revealed that there were 6.6 million people over-50 and below the retirement age employed in the UK between March and May 2010.

Ms Krys added that having a group of workers of various ages in the workplace can result in a team being a lot stronger and more adaptable.

The campaign director said putting many individuals of the same era in a workforce is not a good idea.

She said: "I think the recruitment industry has struggled to realise that a team made up of identikit people is not the strongest option." Ms Krys said that recruiters may be trying to second guess what their clients actually want.

"A traditional approach is being taken whereby there are important things that employers are looking for, such as creativity, being overlooked because of a person's age, which could affect those looking for jobs in the public sector," she said.