Margaret Hodge, Employment and Equal Opportunities Minister, today awarded eight recruitment consultancies the first Age Diversity in Recruitment Awards of Excellence. The Awards of Excellence, developed in partnership with the Interviewer magazine, is part of the Government’s push to ensure that business considers candidates on the basis of their skills and experience, and not their age.
Speaking at the ceremony Hodge said, "Age discrimination is deeply ingrained in our society and yet it is short sighted, unfair and a waste of valuable human resources.”
She said the winners had all been instrumental in persuading their clients to eliminate age as criteria for their recruitment.
“By 2010 almost 40 per cent of the labour force will be over 45, while 16-24 year olds will make up only 17 per cent of the workforce. Recruitment consultancies throughout the UK need to recognise the impact demographic change will have on companies and take advantage of the business opportunities an ageing society presents. Every recruitment agency needs to encourage employers to stop prejudging people on the basis of their age.”
The winners of the awards were Belvoir Vale Secretarial Agency, Principal People, Eden Brown Recruitment, Forties People and 40+ Recruitment Agencies.
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