For most of us, a longer life means a longer working life. With greater life expectancy, the income stream must go further. Some are in the ‘sandwich generation’ who have both older and younger dependents. Many will extend their tenure beyond retirement because they wish to do so. Others may be re-entering the workforce because they want a second career, or they have recovered from an illness and want to ‘keep going’.
However, just because older people want to work, they are not always welcome. While large and small organizations have actively embraced DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), age diversity has lagged, especially in the hiring process.
“The term “ageism” refers to two concepts: a socially constructed way of thinking about older persons based on negative attitudes, and stereotypes about aging and a tendency to structure society based on an assumption that everyone is young, failing to respond appropriately to the real needs of older persons.”1
In the press and in many organizations, age has been segmented by generations: [Veterans (born 1939-1947), baby boomers (1948-1963), Generation X (1964-1978) and Millennials (1980-2000). However, categories spanning 20 years cannot classify work-related values. Stereotyping is often blunt and unkind. Older candidates:
- oppose change and are less flexible—therefore they will not keep up.
- are harder to train and learn slowly, taking longer to get up to speed.
- have less potential for development, not long-term employees.
- will leave sooner—giving fewer years back to the organization.
- are costly—demanding higher pay, benefits, and retirement premiums.
These sound like ‘business reasons’, but there is no hard evidence. They are simply negative attitudes that discourage applicants before applying. In hiring, advertising copy often asks for a ‘fresh outlook’ or ‘energetic’, implying that only the young should apply, acting as a powerful factor in turning away a broad age spectrum of candidates. Job interviews present another ageism challenge. This often occurs where there is little structure to the meeting. It is organized as a ‘casual chat’ or ‘conversation’. A first interview is often conducted by a young interviewer. Unknowingly even a more seasoned assessor may favour a candidate whose cultural interests, time of life, and value systems match their own.