From snide comments and stereotypes to prejudiced hiring practises, ageism comes in many forms. It remains the most commonly reported form of workplace discrimination, with one in three people in the UK admitting they have experienced age prejudice or age discrimination at some point.
In its global report on ageism, the World Health Organisation describes it as when age is used to “categorise and divide people in ways that lead to harm, disadvantage and injustice and erode solidarity across generations”.
Although young workers face disproportionately high incidences of age-related bias, research has shown that nearly half (45 per cent) of adults aged 50 and over (approximately 9.3 million people in England alone) experience ageism in any given year.
With the pension age rising to 67 this year, millions of older adults are finding themselves navigating the workplace for longer and as a result, are finding issues surrounding workplace ageism intensifying. The i Paper spoke to three anonymous people about the discrimination they have encountered.
‘At 42, I’ve just realised I’m considered old‘
Anna*, 42, works at a media website
“I’m 42 and all the people I manage are younger than me, some of them in their early twenties. They are lovely, but at the last office Christmas party, when I joined their table for a chat, it went quiet and I got a strong sense of awkwardness – and that they sort of wished I wasn’t there. I left soon afterwards. I guess this might be just the life of a boss, and my friends say they have had the same thing, but it was not pleasant! It was a rude awakening – I used to consider myself a fun and youthful colleague and now realise I am considered old.
“I don’t remember finding my boss such an alien when I was that age. But the generations are more divided than they used to be – we have less shared experiences and cultural references. I’m also afraid to say that working from home means people in their twenties are just less experienced in getting along with work colleagues, who may be from different age groups or backgrounds. On the whole, my experience is they don’t have the social skills to find common ground, like I did when I was starting at work, and just don’t feel the need to bother.”
‘It’s inappropriate to suggest we’re too old to stay awake to do our own jobs properly‘
Rebecca*, 48, works in fashion PR
“I work in fashion which is renowned for being a “young person’s game”. I don’t necessarily subscribe to this belief because I feel in any industry, especially fashion, experience is tantamount. But at 48, I do feel the beginnings of whatever shift might be happening for me. In the last couple of years, my company has hired younger women and men, who are good enough at what they do but very liberal in inappropriate comments directed at the older women in the company. I think their comments are intended as compliments, but to me it’s ageism and I don’t like it.
“Things like ‘Drop the skincare routine’ and ‘We can’t wait to dress like you’ only serve to further alienate me and older women in the company. They recently caught wind that a couple of the senior team were out until 2am at an event in another country, and there were comments such as, ‘I’d be so tired if I were you’ – implying it was late for us to be up, even though it was a work event that we are required to oversee. It’s inappropriate and undermining to suggest we are too old to stay awake to do our own jobs properly. I imagine it will only get worse as time goes on.”
‘In interviews I was grilled about my health and how much energy I had‘
Tom*, 61, works in IT
“I have experienced ageism throughout my career but I would say it didn’t get consistently bad until my fifties. Over the years, I’ve been told I’m not right for jobs because I’m over-experienced, I’ve been laid off because my salary was on the higher end of the spectrum, and I’ve been directly told by co-workers that people in tech and IT who are in their forties are “over the hill” – this was when I was in my forties at the time.
“When I was laid off in my fifties, it was a nightmare to get rehired for a couple of years and in interviews I was grilled about my health and how much energy I had for the ‘fast-paced work’. I also had a much younger hiring manager ask if I had any knowledge of very basic technologies for my industry. Thankfully, I mostly work for myself now. When you hit your fifties, I would recommend a little strategic editing of your CV so it’s not immediately apparent what age bracket you slot into. A little depressing, but the way the world works unfortunately.”
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