Forum Brief: Ageism

Ageism is so rife in the British workplace that people have only five years in their entire working life during which they are unlikely to be judged too young or too old for a job according to a new report from Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Forum Response: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

Dianah Worman, CIPD Diversity adviser, said: "Age discrimination is costly to business given that older workers achieve the same levels of performance as younger workers.

"In fact, the business case for employing older workers seems more compelling as they are more likely to stay in their jobs for longer - the cost of replacing staff is more than £3, 500 on average."

"The CIPD says that judging people by their age creates artificial problems in the labour market and effectively blinds organisations to obvious sources of talent. But with a shrinking younger population and a growing older one, employers will have no alternative but to change.

"Employers will require an understanding of how to manage, recruit, reward, train and motivate employees across all age ranges, and at all stages of their careers. In addition, the whole concept of retirement will have to be reassessed."

Forum Response: Help the Aged

Keith Frost of Help the Aged's Third Age Employment Network said: 'This report is a timely reminder that ageism remains the most common form of workplace discrimination and that it can impact people across the age spectrum, not just older workers.

"The findings speak for themselves. By effectively writing people off early, ageism blights the lives of millions of individuals, their families and communities and costs UK plc over £30 billion a year.

'The CIPD is right to alert employers that they need to start addressing the issue of age discrimination now, rather than waiting till the end of 2006.

"If the government had kept to the EU's original timetable, the legislation would already be on the books. It is important that organisations make the most of the 3 year delay to review and revise their personnel policies, and more importantly their practices, to ensure they are making decisions based on the ability, skills and commitment of individuals rather than their age.

"Age is a really bad proxy for ability. Employers such as Barclays, Gloucester Housing Association, Asda, HBOS, B and Q, Marks and Spencer etc have already realised this and are gaining a distinct competitive advantage over rivals who have not woken up to the strong business case for pursuing an age diverse approach to recruitment, retention and training.

"The Employers Forum on Age has developed an extremely useful policy review toolkit called 'One Step Ahead' to help 'age proof' businesses.

"However, the government has been telling employers they will have nearly two years to adapt once the regulations are published and laid before Parliament later this year, so it is not surprising that many are dragging their feet.

"Many organisations deal with things on a 'needs must' basis and for some businesses three months, let alone three years, is a long time.

"Hopefully before then the tightening labour market will force more employers to turn to pools of labour they have previously shunned - such as older workers, disabled people and lone parents - and to offer the increased flexibility that many are looking for.

"UK plc really can't afford to go on wasting so much talent and experience."

Forum Response: Age Concern

Gordon Lishman, director-general of Age Concern, told ePolitix.com: "That for just five years a person is not judged as 'too young' or 'too old' in a working life is shocking. A huge amount of talent and experience is being overlooked and ignored on the basis of age.

"While the government's planned Commission for Equality and Human Rights will play a crucial role fighting for equality for older people for the first time, this report shows how much urgent work is needed to stop the human and financial cost of age discrimination.

"Ahead of new laws that will outlaw ageism in work from October 2006, the Commission must be given strong powers and duties to help break the age barrier and make age discrimination a thing of the past."

Forum Response: Institute of Directors

A spokesman for the IoD told ePolitix.com: "Any form of agesim in the recruiting process is of course totally unacceptable.

"Older workers in particular have invaluable knowledge and experience that can only benefit an organisation. With a shrinking workforce it is only a matter of time before older workers are valued as much as their younger colleagues."

Forum Response: Association of Retired and Persons Over 50

A spokesman for the ARP/050, told ePolitix.com: "The latest Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) report is correct in highlighting the existence of age discrimination at many levels within the British workforce.

"Despite government assertions to the contrary some seven years ago, it continues to thrive - and not just in such traditionally 'young' sectors as IT, PR and journalism.

"Forced out of work, many of Britain's 20 million over-fifties must accept jobs for which they are patently over-qualified and under-paid; this not only significantly reduces their pension contributions, but often loses lifetime skills to younger, less experienced, replacements with no broad perspective on their company's corporate history or industry trends.

"This situation is likely to continue until the belated introduction of anti-discriminatory legislation in 2006 (considerably behind similar laws protecting the rights of other minorities) which has been proven to work so well in the US and other countries for decades now.

"Although discrimination exists at many age levels in the workplace, this Association has found it to be exacerbated in the decade or so before retirement. What is needed to redress the balance is a concerted effort to changes attitudes to age across the board starting with the education system, including management and recruitment bodies - and with a genuine government commitment to make it work.

"This need to break down communication barriers between the generations is an essential pre-requisite for a change that will eventually benefit everyone, including the many younger people who will find themselves in the working wilderness when they, too, hit 50."