Pervasive Ageism and Hiring

Ageism was a term coined in the late 1960's by a physician and Pulitzer Prize winning author, Robert Butler.  It was apparently coined to walk in stride with racism and sexism and the battles against each being fought during that era.  But the mantel was never picked up with the same fervor as the other "isms" - until now.

Our economy has turned our country upside down in so many ways it seems hard to keep up with them all.  But with devastatingly high unemployment continuing, one of the most important things that needs to come front and center is age discrimination. It is not only outrageous but illegal.  The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 forbids employment discrimination against anyone at least 40 years of age in the United States. Somewhere, somehow, that fact has gotten lost on too many employers.

It's now routine to have older workers bear more of the brunt of downsizing. Or have Human Resources use their own code or computer codes to glean certain buzz words, dates, phrases that enable them to focus on resumes of those under 40 for any job opening they may have. 

My emails too often reflect the following examples from  professional women:

"       I've been looking for another job for 1.5 years now.  Lots of interviews, no job.  Most of my friends can't even get an interview. I'm turning 60 in two weeks."

And then this one ...

" Being now unemployed for over 17 months, the reality is, I am a single mother, I am fifty, and I am a petite brunette. It all equals to I am at the bottom of the barrell. There's a little too much discrimination out there, I've been told all of my factors above have a negative effect of my gaining employment, so a married, tall blond would get it over me." 

Certainly many small and large businesses have been going through their own trauma during the past few years, but singling out one certain group of people NOT to retain or hire based on age has become all too common. How is the current workplace able to get away with so much blatant  discrimination?  Because we're letting too much of it happen without putting up too much of a fight. Laws are made to be upheld.  

All women deserve equal footing in the workplace, no matter what their age.  But the reality of today is that younger women who are looking for work have job opportunities, if not now, certainly in the future..That's the good news.  Women over 50, let alone 60  are frequently faced with a different reality.  Those job opportunities may have disappeared without a return.

The business world now has a great opportunity.
Meet the challenge of ageism head on in an extraordinary positive way.
Work to make changes in hiring practices a reality with  "No Ageism Allowed" policies.

Ageism is counter productive to the bigger picture. It's a picture of a living, breathing business model that has a workplace valuing the contributions that each generation brings to the table. It integrates the experience and perspective of those who have developed years of expertise with  those who are the younger generations on their way up. One does not negate the other. It's a model that enables businesses to grow, employees to thrive and those they do business with regain some of their lost faith.