The numbers back her up. According to a recent AARP report, two-thirds of adults over 50 believe older workers face age discrimination in the workplace, and 90% of that group believe ageism is commonplace.
How do we best combat ageism and age discrimination in our workplaces? Here are 6 suggestions.
1./ Forced retirement is a huge no. With the exception of a few industries and jobs (commercial airline pilots, executive-level employees, police, and firefighters), the choice of when an employee retires belongs to the employee only. If you force an employer age-40 or over to retire, you've committed clear age discrimination.
2./ Create and foster a workplace culture that is committed to a multi-generational workplace. For example, add "age" to already existing DEI programs, or develop mixed-age work teams.
3./ Recognize and reject outdated and illegal stereotypes, assumptions, and remarks about age and older workers. A few examples — "You're too old to learn," "Technology has passed you by," and "You've lost a few steps." Age is never a pretext for ability.
4./ Increase the age diversity of the workforce by working to hire, retain, and engage employees of all generations. Examples include hiring older workers to fill a lack of trained or experienced workers for higher-skilled jobs, seeking workers of all ages and not limiting qualifications based on age or years of experience, and training recruiters and interviewers to avoid ageist assumptions and perceptions.
5./ Implement recruiting and hiring strategies that avoid age bias by seeking workers of all ages and not limiting qualifications based on age or years of experience. These strategies include training recruiters and interviewers to avoid ageist assumptions and common perceptions about older workers, assessing interviewing strategies to avoid age bias, and having an age-diverse interview panels.
6./ Develop retention strategies to keep older workers. These could include offering retirement-planning education and assistance, deploying benefit programs that are more attractive to older workers, and creating employment opportunities to assist employees to phase into retirement if they so choose (such as voluntary flexible work schedules and part-time positions).
How do we best combat ageism and age discrimination in our workplaces? Here are 6 suggestions.
1./ Forced retirement is a huge no. With the exception of a few industries and jobs (commercial airline pilots, executive-level employees, police, and firefighters), the choice of when an employee retires belongs to the employee only. If you force an employer age-40 or over to retire, you've committed clear age discrimination.
2./ Create and foster a workplace culture that is committed to a multi-generational workplace. For example, add "age" to already existing DEI programs, or develop mixed-age work teams.
3./ Recognize and reject outdated and illegal stereotypes, assumptions, and remarks about age and older workers. A few examples — "You're too old to learn," "Technology has passed you by," and "You've lost a few steps." Age is never a pretext for ability.
4./ Increase the age diversity of the workforce by working to hire, retain, and engage employees of all generations. Examples include hiring older workers to fill a lack of trained or experienced workers for higher-skilled jobs, seeking workers of all ages and not limiting qualifications based on age or years of experience, and training recruiters and interviewers to avoid ageist assumptions and perceptions.
5./ Implement recruiting and hiring strategies that avoid age bias by seeking workers of all ages and not limiting qualifications based on age or years of experience. These strategies include training recruiters and interviewers to avoid ageist assumptions and common perceptions about older workers, assessing interviewing strategies to avoid age bias, and having an age-diverse interview panels.
6./ Develop retention strategies to keep older workers. These could include offering retirement-planning education and assistance, deploying benefit programs that are more attractive to older workers, and creating employment opportunities to assist employees to phase into retirement if they so choose (such as voluntary flexible work schedules and part-time positions).