‘Young’ advert is not biased, says airline

The
head of personnel at Ryanair has defended the airline after it was fined £8,000
following a complaint by the Irish Equality Authority that a recruitment advert
was ageist.

Eddie
Wilson, head of personnel for the airline, told Personnel Today he felt the
firm had been unfairly targeted by the authority over an advert placed in the
Irish Times for “a young dynamic professional”.

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He
said, “We have always been an equal opportunities employer. We don’t
discriminate on age. It was never our intention to do so as we always select
the best person for the job.

“Far
too often adverts for senior positions stress the necessity for experience
which discriminates against potentially younger applicants and we are trying to
ensure that we spread our net as wide as possible.”