Lisa Shuster, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is the Chief People Officer for iHire, an industry-specific recruitment platform.
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Years ago, getting older might have meant retiring and moving to a beach in sunny Florida. Today, research shows that more Americans continue to work well into their 60s, 70s and 80s, and others are even coming out of retirement to rejoin the workforce. Whether the trend of “unretirement” is due to financial reasons, genuine passion for one’s career or sheer boredom, one unfortunate thing is for certain: Older employees are increasingly experiencing ageism at work and during their job search.
The Prevalence Of Workplace Ageism
Although older workers may possess extensive experience in their field, employers are prone to allowing conscious or unconscious bias to influence their hiring, HR and business decisions. Common misconceptions include the notion that older workers possess outdated skills, don’t understand new technology, are resistant to change or aren't as creative or innovative as their younger counterparts. Employers may also assume this demographic will retire soon, have health issues or require a higher salary, so they avoid investing in their career growth or hiring them altogether.
At iHire, we surveyed 1,450 job seekers over the age of 50 in August 2023. We found 33.6% of these workers believe they’ve experienced ageism during their job search, and 23.1% feel they’ve experienced ageism at work or on the job. The most common manifestation of ageism cited was a preference for younger or less-experienced job candidates. More than half of respondents said a potential employer chose a younger applicant, even though they were equally or more qualified. These workers also cited instances of employers ignoring their job applications, ghosting them after interviews or offering lower salaries than what they are worth. They'd even experienced receiving inappropriate comments or questions related to age; one respondent wrote in that an interviewer once looked at their résumé and said, “Wow, you graduated college before I was born!”
Of the older workers who experienced discrimination while on the job, around 44% said a younger or less experienced employee was promoted instead of them, and 28% have been overlooked or denied a pay raise. Meanwhile, more than one-third of respondents said a coworker made a comment or asked an inappropriate question about their age, and 22% were excluded from certain social events or team-building activities.
So what can business leaders do to address these inequities?
Preventing Ageism And Promoting Age Inclusivity
Keeping ageism out of your work environment and hiring practices involves more than obtaining an age-friendly employer certification from the AARP or outlining anti-discrimination policies in your employee handbook. To create an inclusive multi-generational workforce, consider the following strategies.
1. Rethink hiring for culture fit.
To create an age-inclusive workplace, don’t ask whether a candidate would mesh well with your existing team or is just like everyone else. Ask how they can enhance your workforce with their new perspectives, unique characteristics and diverse background. In other words, what can they add to your work culture? With this mindset, you'll be more likely to bring people of all ages aboard.
2. Make age inclusivity part of your DEI initiatives.
Celebrate all aspects of diversity, including age, when developing and scaling your DEI programs. Train employees—especially people leaders and hiring managers—to recognize and overcome unconscious and conscious age bias. Additionally, ensure leadership is leading by example with its commitment to an age-diverse workforce.
You must also create safe spaces or forums to facilitate discussions on ageism (and other types of discrimination) and inspire employees to use age-inclusive language. For example, avoid using age-related words and phrases in job ads (“seeking fresh talent”) and recruitment marketing materials (“Our culture is young and vibrant”).
3. Standardize how you screen and interview applicants.
Ask all candidates the same set of interview questions, and avoid asking anything related to age like “How much longer do you plan to work?" Rate each candidate on the same numeric scale, and give identical skills assessments or work sample tests to maximize objectivity. If holding panel interviews, try to gather a diverse group of panelists.
Another way to level the playing field when recruiting is removing information from résumés and applications that could hint at a candidate’s age. This includes graduation years, dates of employment and photos. In fact, 54.5% of respondents to iHire’s survey said they'd like employers to use blind recruiting tools that do just that to prevent ageism in the hiring process.
4. Evaluate your benefits and perks.
Benefits like simplified employee pension plans (SEPs), 401(k) contributions and other retirement savings options are highly appealing to older workers. Flexibility is another perk that can cater to an aging workforce, as some people may prefer part-time, freelance, gig or consulting roles; compressed workweeks; or job sharing. Also, it goes without saying that you should ensure compensation is based on the job that the employee is performing and not their age.
5. Offer growth and development opportunities.
Show older workers they're valued by investing in their careers. Use career pathing to demonstrate how they can advance in their role, and upskill or reskill them to fill talent gaps. Allow them to mentor younger associates as mentorships are especially effective in encouraging collaboration across age groups, building trust and simplifying knowledge transfer.
As older workers remain vital members of the workforce, ageism won’t go away unless you address it, starting with making changes to your culture and recruiting practices. Age is truly just a number. It’s the employees’ skills and experience that make an organization thrive.
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