Workplace Wellbeing: Mind the generation gap 

Age discrimination in the workplace is worldwide but experts say older people have higher levels of emotional intelligence and critical thinking and lower levels of absenteeism than younger workers

By SHARON NÍ CHONCHÚIR

On May 3, 2024

DAVID* is a 60-year-old accountant who worked abroad for decades on a contract basis. “Taking on projects that last for several months gives me more free time between jobs,” he says. “When I moved back to Ireland several years ago, I hoped to continue working this way.”

But it hasn’t been easy. Since he hit his mid-50s, David believes that ageist attitudes have hindered his job prospects.

“Ageism is a hidden problem in Irish workplaces,” he says. “From applying for positions, not being called to interview and seeing who was hired instead, I’ve realised that companies use coded language in the recruitment process. Now, when I see words like ‘enthusiastic’ or ‘energetic’ in job descriptions, I don’t bother applying. I know they only want someone young.”

Of the 1,275 complaints detailed in the Workplace Relations Commission’s Annual Report 2022, 40% related to discrimination due to age.

A 2023 survey by the recruitment firm Matrix found that 78% of the 1,400 respondents believed ageism was an issue in Irish workplaces. Two-thirds believed that workers over 50 had fewer promotional prospects than younger colleagues and half believed that older workers would struggle to get a new job.

According to Dr Trudy Corrigan, a research fellow at the Anti-Bullying Centre and a co-founder of the Age-Friendly University Initiative, this issue is worldwide.

“The 2021 World Health Organisation Report on Ageism stated that one in two people globally are ageist,” she says. “This manifests in three ways: stereotyping — how we think about older people; prejudice — how we feel about them; and discrimination — how we act.”

She argues that all three are at play in Irish workplaces. “Our research shows that people begin to feel invisible in the workplace from the age of 50. They aren’t considered for recruitment, training, or promotion.”

The problem is particularly prevalent in recruitment. “We’re told it’s difficult to even be called for interview if you’re over 50,” she says. “People go so far as to hide some of their job history on their CVs so that prospective employers don’t realise how old they are.”

Good investment

Dr Mary Collins, a chartered workplace psychologist at the RCSI Centre for Positive Health Sciences, says women tend to experience more ageism than men.

“Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University in Britain applied for 2,000 jobs using CVs that were identical except for the age and gender of the applicants,” she says. “They found that a 50-year-old was 4.2 times less likely to be called for interview than a 28-year-old. That rose to 5.3 times less likely if the applicant was a woman.”

Collins suggests that bias may be due in part to the relatively recent rise in life expectancy. “In 1900, the average life expectancy in Ireland was 49, so 50 was old,” she says. “Over the course of a century, we gained an extra 30 years of life, but we still view people over 50 as old.”

The narrative around older people contributes to ageism too, says Corrigan. “All the talk of older people being bed blockers and a burden on society because of pensions doesn’t help.”

The very language we use can be negative. “Take the word elderly,” says Collins. “It makes you think of someone who’s frail and cognitively slow. That sort of language can encourage unconscious bias.”

Prof Noreen Heraty, the head of the Department of Work and Employment Studies at the University of Limerick, lists other undesirable attributes we often associate with ageing. “We assume older people are set in their ways and unwilling or unable to change,” she says. We don’t see them as being interested in taking on new roles or responsibilities or as a good investment in terms of future contributions to the workplace.”

It’s widely accepted that occupations requiring high physical strength or stamina are generally suited to younger workers. With this exception, older employees can work to a high standard in most jobs.

“A 2015 study called ‘Don’t Put Baby (Boomers) in the Corner’ found that people perceived baby boomers as lacking energy and innovation,” says Collins. “But that was at odds with how baby boomers saw themselves. They felt they had developed a wealth of experience and knowledge that they wanted to pass on to younger colleagues.”

A 2015 Columbia University study of over 100 small businesses in New York City highlighted more benefits that older workers can bring to the workplace. These included higher levels of emotional intelligence and critical thinking, greater loyalty to their employers, and lower levels of absenteeism.

Heraty maintains that even the area of weakness most associated with older workers — their lack of familiarity with technology — can be overcome once the right training and support are provided.

“It’s not that people cannot learn as they get older,” she says. “It’s that learning needs to be presented in more accessible ways. But that’s something that doesn’t just benefit older workers. It helps everyone.”

Law bans discrimination

Corrigan reminds employers that there’s a legal obligation to treat older workers fairly. “The law bans discrimination, which includes discrimination in terms of age,” she says. “It’s important to create widespread awareness of this so that organisations design and enact policies that are inclusive of older workers.”

Training can help with this, says Heraty. “Often people may not be conscious of the ageist attitudes they hold or how these attitudes impact the people they work with. This is particularly true for managers or decision-makers when it comes to recruitment, performance management, allocation of work and redundancy. One’s age shouldn’t determine what opportunities are made available to us.”

Collins is particularly interested in the potential of intergenerational workforces. “I’ve visited tech companies in Dublin where I’ve been 20 years older than everyone else, and it’s felt one-dimensional,” she says. “There were all these tech-savvy people, but where was the opportunity for mentorship or sharing life experiences?”

She’s a strong proponent of reverse mentoring as a way of countering ageism. This happens when a younger and older person learns from one another.

Collins’ mentor is 26. “She helps me maintain my digital presence and as a woman in my 40s, I help her with her career trajectory. We each have skills and experiences to offer the other.”

Corrigan’s work with DCU’s Age-Friendly University Initiative is built on the principle of creating a space in which older and younger people can learn from each other. It offers older people from the local community the chance to study unaccredited part-time courses at the university and to engage in workshops with full-time students.

“They enjoy getting to know each other,” says Corrigan. “There can be stereotyping both ways with older people having certain assumptions about younger people and vice versa. But by sitting down and talking with one another, they realise they have more in common than they think.”

Corrigan and DCU are also part of a European project that is developing resources and materials to help workplaces tackle ageism. She’s eager to make clear that this isn’t about giving older people preferential treatment in the workplace. “It’s about creating a transparent and fair system for all,” she says. “We want everyone, no matter what age they are, to feel they are entitled to continue to develop their potential at work.”

That’s exactly what David wants too. “All anyone should care about is your ability to do the job, fit into the company and work as part of the team,” he says. “Your age shouldn’t come into it at all.”

This piece was republished from the Irish Examiner.