One in eight workers claim that they have been discouraged from
applying for a position in the last year because the job advert contained an
age restriction, according to a survey released today by the CIPD.
The report, called Age discrimination at work, also suggests
that nearly a quarter of employees agree that employers are not interested in
recruiting or promoting people over the age of 40.
One in ten of those aged 45 to 54 years of age believe that
they have been rejected for a job in the last 12 months because the recruiter
considered them to be “too old”.
The survey of over 1,000 employees also shows that ageism is
not confined to older workers. Seven per cent of the 16 to 24 age group claim
they have been told explicitly by potential employers in the last year that
they are too young for a job.
Melissa Compton-Edwards, the report’s author, said, “Given
that skills shortages continue to pose a problem and that the number of young
people entering the labour market is declining, organisations would do well to
revise their retirement policies to ensure that workers who actively want to
work beyond the state pension age have the opportunity to do so.”
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By Mike Broad
