It comes as no surprise that analysis of official data has suggested unemployed people over the age of 50 are more than twice as likely as younger groups to be out of work for at least two years.

I’ve written here regularly about my experience of trying to find a job.

The analysis by an organisation called Rest Less says one in four jobless people is over 50. Before Covid, 80% of employment growth in the UK came from workers over the age of 50.

Surely now is the time to focus on this group as a way to bounce back from the pandemic.

There are suggestions of a “lost generation of over-50s” forced into early retirement because they cannot find jobs and the state pension age is rising.

Times are tough for everyone. But overlooking the talents of the over-50s risks wasting the experience and wisdom of a group of people who still have plenty to offer the world of employment.