October 25 2005 - A survey of 2682 managers and HR professionals has shown that age
discrimination is still commonplace.
The survey, conducted by the Chartered Management
Institute and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, found that
59% of respondents said that they had been personally
disadvantaged at work because of their age. 22% admitted that
age has an impact on their own recruitment decisions.
The survey also found that nearly half (48%)
had suffered age discrimination when applying for jobs
and 39% believe their chances of
promotion had been afffected by age discrimination. 63% of respondents
believed that employees aged 30-39 years had the best promotion
prospects. Just 2% cited 50 year-olds or above.
80% were hoping to retire by the age of 65,
despite believing that the age of retirement for the average
person in 10 years' time will be 66 or older. But 29% of
organisations have already scrapped mandatory
retirement ages.
Dianah Worman, Diversity Adviser at the Chartered Institute of
Personnel and Development (CIPD) said, "Our research
shows that most managers expect everyone to be retiring later
within ten years - except themselves. There is a growing
acceptance that the average worker is going to stay at work
beyond 65. But no-one seems to think it applies to them. It is good
news that attitudes to older workers are changing, but individuals
need take a reality check on their expectations of their own
retirement age.
"The evidence also suggests that the current proposal to set a
default retirement age of 65 is a useless bureaucratic barrier,
which needs to be either finessed or scrapped. If the objective
of the legislation is to end age discrimination in the workplace
and support older workers, this is likely to be counterproductive.
The Government would do far better to focus their attention on
extending flexible working arrangements to ensure that employers
are able to make greater use of the skills and experience offered
by older workers."
According to Petra Cook, Head of Public Affairs at the Chartered Management
Institute, "Looking at the changing demographics,
approximately 80 per cent of the workforce is already in employment.
As such, organisations will need to focus on upskilling and reskilling
their current workforce. This is reflected by the finding that the need
to retain skills is the key driver of retirement policy. It also means
that
individuals must now plan their careers in a new light. The days of a
single, linear career are over and employees must take some
responsibility
for creating new opportunities and challenges in their later working
lives.
But, in order for this to happen, organisations will have to adapt to
ensure that older workers are treated as an asset and offered
flexibility."
The perception of how old is an 'older worker' has changed. Ten years ago,
respondents cited 48 as the mean age for a female 'older employee' compared with 55 now.
But the perception remains that women get 'older' at a younger age. The mean age for an
'older' male employee was given as 57 in the recent survey, compared with 51 a decade ago.
Age Discrimination
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