Borders, a global book retailer, deliberately hires older workers not only because of their maturity and work habits, but because it makes sense. More than half of Borders customers are over age 45.

"We know that when the mix of employees in our stores, in terms of age, gender, race and other factors, reflects the customer base at large," said Greg Josefowicz, Borders CEO, "we are more successful." Dan Smith, Borders Vice President of Human Resources, reinforced this by adding that the stability rate of the bookseller's employees over 50 was twice that of those under 50.

"Older workers are really good decision-makers," Smith said. "When they make a decision to work for a company, they usually want to stay for a long time."

Borders, which has 1,200 stores in the U.S., tends to attract older employees because it offers healthcare benefits to part-timers, flexible work schedules, a community setting and a learning environment.