Nearly one in three people are putting off retirement because they cannot afford to stop working amid economic uncertainty, or because they do not want to retire, a CBI survey has found.

The right to ask to work beyond a normal retirement age has existed for two years and now 31 per cent of those reaching retirement age are asking to carry on working.

The figure stood at 22 per cent last year. The CBI's survey of 500 organisations, which employ one million people, covers the commercial and public sectors.

John Cridland, the CBI's deputy director-general, said: “Many older workers do not want to retire, or do not feel financially secure enough to do so, particularly with the downturn in the housing market. In the majority of cases, employers are very happy to retain older staff, who often have invaluable skills and experience.”

Last year 81 per cent of requests to work beyond retirement age were granted, compared with 72 per cent in 2007.

Most businesses - 71 per cent - allow workers to carry on in full-time roles, while 66 per cent offered part-time employment.

Large numbers of organisations also offer different types of flexible working beyond retirement, including phased retirement, employees taking a pension and working and seasonal or project work.

However, the CBI gave warning that there was confusion among many employers over the interaction of the right to request flexible retirement and age discrimination regulations for pensions.

More flexible retirement is one of a range of flexible working arrangements endorsed by employers, despite the economic downturn.

Nearly half of all organisations (46 per cent) offer teleworking for at least part of the week to their employees. This level has remained stable for the past 12 months, although it has increased dramatically over the past two years.

In 2006 only 14 per cent of businesses had teleworking arrangements.

The CBI said that employers could avoid the delays of traffic congestion and not suffer any reduction in productivity by using teleworking.

Mr Cridland said: “The boundaries of the traditional nine-to-five in the office or on the shopfloor are becoming more and more blurred. Employers are embracing the benefits of flexible working, even as the economy heads into more uncertain times.”

The TUC said that the CBI's survey could paint too rosy a picture of the world of work. Nigel Stanley, its head of campaigns, said: “People should have a choice about when they retire, but there are obvious concerns that people are working longer than they genuinely want to because their pensions are inadequate.”

On the subject of overall flexible working, he said: “This survey reports some positive findings for staff, and of course we welcome any signs that employers are offering more flexible working

“But it would be wrong to think that this survey is a scientific measure of all companies or all employees. We doubt whether any of the employers of Britain's two million vulnerable workers most in need of better legal protection returned survey forms, even if they were sent to them.”

The CBI also said that organisations felt that their ability to offer flexible working arrangements was in danger of being curbed by additional labour market legislation and other regulation.

Only 15 per cent of respondents felt that the UK was a better place to do business in terms of labour market flexibility over the past five years, while 46 per cent said that it had become a worse place.

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