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Six months on from legislation, ageism still rife at work Leading think tank on age says laws have yet to have an impact 30 March 2007
Ageism impacts on all aspects of employment - recruitment, promotion, training as well as redundancy and retirement selection but, according to the EFA research, seems to be particularly rife in recruitment and it's younger people who are really feeling the pinch.
Sam Mercer, Director of The Employers Forum on Age comments: "Six months on, it is disappointing to find that so many people are still falling victim to ageism at work. It just goes to show that a change in the law is merely the first step in a long journey towards tackling endemic social prejudices - as we've seen before with gender and race legislation. It's down to us all as individuals to challenge our own ageist beliefs and ensure that particularly at work, we make judgments based on skills and ability rather than age." From the language used in a job advert to the attitude of the interviewer, ageism lurks in every stage of recruitment. Age stereotypes have been built into British workplace culture and assumptions are made about people's work and salary aspirations depending on their age. Mercer continues, "We still regularly spot job adverts that contravene the regulations, asking for 'young professionals', 'recent graduates', 'young talents', and 'mature candidates', or saying that salary will be offered depending on 'age and experience'. While we appreciate that it does take time to change the habits of a lifetime, it is cheaper, easier and much better for businesses to be fair in the way they recruit people in the first place, than to defend a discrimination claim in a tribunal." Madalyn Brooks, HR Director at Procter & Gamble, UK & Ireland comments, "Diversity is a key component to business success and we fully support the end of age discrimination in the workplace. We have made some simple changes to our recruitment that now mean we both comply with the new laws and recruit from a much bigger group of people. We would encourage other employers to do the same." Useful information:
- End - For further information please contact: The Employers Forum on Age Sam Mercer: 207 785 6539 - sam.mercer@efa.org.uk Rachel Krys: 207 785 6556 - rachel.krys@efa.org.uk Or Lansons Communications Helen Thomson: 0207 294 3604 - helent@lansons.com Aisling McCarthy: 0207 294 3633 - aislingm@lansons.com Notes to Editors Back to the press office |
