People who suffer discrimination at work are more likely to be a victim because of their age than any other factor, including race or gender – according to research by the MORI Social Research Institute, for government’s Age Positive Week initiative.
Older workers are considered to be resistant to change and training, and lacking technological skills, whilst younger workers are thought to be inexperienced, unreliable, irresponsible, more likely to throw ‘sickies’ and lacking organisational skills.
The research, commissioned to coincide with the start of Age Positive Week, which aims to raise awareness of age discrimination in the workplace, shows that one in five people (22%) have experienced some form of discrimination in the workplace. Of those almost two in five (38%) cite that it was due to their age – by far the biggest cause mentioned.
Looking just at those people who feel they have been discriminated against because of their age, almost two in five (38%) say this happened during the initial recruitment process. Others say it was during the promotion process (25%), during the selection stage (25%) and during training and development (16%).
Age discrimination during the recruitment process is far more common amongst men, with more than two in five (45%) of the male victims of age discrimination citing it in contrast to a quarter (27%) of the women. Indeed, a similar percentage of the women (26%) suggest that age discrimination is as common in the promotion process as it is during recruitment for a job or career.
The research also looked at the general public’s attitude towards colleagues of different ages. When asked which characteristics they typically associate with mature workers (people between the ages of 50 and 65), the most commonly cited preconception is that they are resistant to change, with around one in three (34%) stating this. Around three in 10 (29%) feel that older workers lack technological skills.
When asked to consider characteristics they associated with younger workers (those aged 16-25), by far the most popular was their inexperience, with over half (53%) stating this. Other characteristics associated with younger workers include a belief that they are unreliable (38%), irresponsible (35%), more likely to take time off sick (33%), lack organisational skills (25%), stay in their job for a shorter period of time (22%) and that they lack technological skills (12%).
The DWP has a Code of Pratice “to help employers recognise the business benefits of an age-diverse workforce”.
The Employers’ Forum on Age also has uesful resources.
The CIPD has responded to Age Positive Week by pressing organisations to become more progressive in their approach to the employment of older workers. The institute believes that a mandatory retirement age is outdated and that organisations can gain real business benefit by becoming more flexible about retirement age.
Dianah Worman, CIPD Adviser of Diversity says: “Many organisations are still stuck in a mindset that older workers are “past it” or they believe that older workers should be at work all the time or not at all. This is very shortsighted – we know that people are very often willing to be flexible in the last few years of their working lives and organisations would benefit tremendously from the skills and experience of these experienced workers.”
The CIPD believes that a mandatory retirement age is at odds with the age discrimination legislation which will come into force in 2006.
The CIPD also sees the present Inland Revenue rules as a major block on providing more flexible pension provision. Under the current rules it is not possible for an employee to receive a pension from the place that they are working. This means that part time working for the employer that provides your pension is not possible.
Adds Worman: ” Age diversity, work life balance and pensions are now part of the same agenda and we are urging employers to think creatively about how they can manage these issues.”
