Ageism In The Workplace

I've been reading the AARP Magazine for years, but recently my mom brought me the AARP Bulletin, a paper pamphlet loaded with good information.  I especially liked the article on ageism in the workplace, and thought I would share a little of it with you.

About 35% of the workforce in the U.S. is now 50 years or older, yet the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) concluded that age discrimination remain a significant and costly problem for workers.  It happens every day, in all kinds of jobs, yet few speak up.  Most companies do not understand that older workers possess a depth of skills and knowledge that's worth paying for.

Age discrimination is so pervasive that people don't even recognize that it's illegal.  The discrimination takes many forms.  Recruitment and hiring, on the job bias, and termination.  Some recruitment adds are obviously favoring young workers, like a Linkedin post that read, "This is an excellent opportunity for a recent college grad......"  Other postings are a little more subtle, like "The ideal candidate is a digital native...."Most of these postings appear only rather than in print.  The federal government has warned employers against using terms like "recent college graduate"in positing, but the practice continues.

The EEOC is struggling to keep up with complaints.  Between 2010 and 2017 they received 205,355 age discrimination complaints, yet just 1% resulted in a finding of discrimination.  Only 10 age  discrimination lawsuits were actually litigated.  EEOC is trying to mediate and settle as many suits as possible.

Harassment in the workplace is a common form of age discrimination.  In some cases, the job the older employee was doing is eliminated, thus forcing the employee to resign.

The reality is, every aspect of job performance gets better as we age.  Wharton Business School determined that the juxtaposition between the superior performance of older workers and the discrimination against them in the workplace just makes no sense.

We had a friend who was a sit com writer.  He had written for some of the great shows, like Cheers and Taxi, yet when he tried to find work as a writer in his 50's, he could not get work.    For the most part, that industry is dominate by men and women under 35.  Age discrimination can take place in workers as young as 50.  Hopefully with other movements that have caught fire l (like the me too movement), older workers will stand up for their rights and fight back.