Age Discrimination at Work

People who suffer discrimination at work are more likely to be a victim because of their age than any other factor, including race or gender - according to new research from the MORI Social Research Institute in the UK.

Older workers are considered to be resistant to change and training and lacking technological skills, whilst younger workers are thought to be inexperienced, unreliable, irresponsible, more likely to throw 'sickies' and lacking organisational skills.

The research - commissioned by Age Positive - shows that one in five people (22%) have experienced some form of discrimination in the workplace. Of those almost two in five (38%) cite that it was due to their age - by far the biggest cause mentioned.

Looking just at those people who feel they have been discriminated against because of their age, almost two in five (38%) say this happened during the initial recruitment process. Others say it was during the promotion process (25%), during the selection stage (25%) and during training and development (16%).

Age discrimination during the recruitment process is far more common amongst men, with more than two in five (45%) of the male victims of age discrimination citing it in contrast to a quarter (27%) of the women. Indeed, a similar percentage of the women (26%) suggest that age discrimination is as common in the promotion process as it is during recruitment for a job or career.

The research also looked at the general public's attitude towards colleagues of different ages. When asked which characteristics they typically associate with mature workers (people between the ages of 50 and 65), the most commonly cited preconception is that they are resistant to change, with around one in three (34%) stating this. Around three in 10 (29%) feel that older workers lack technological skills.

When asked to consider characteristics they associated with younger workers (those aged 16-25), by far the most popular was their inexperience, with over half (53%) stating this. Other characteristics associated with younger workers include a belief that they are unreliable (38%), irresponsible (35%), more likely to take time off sick (33%), lack organisational skills (25%), stay in their job for a shorter period of time (22%) and that they lack technological skills (12%).

Questions were placed on the MORI Omnibus, the regular MORI survey among the general public. A nationally representative quota sample of 2,072 adults (aged 15 and over) was interviewed face-to-face throughout Great Britain by MORI in 188 different sampling points between 31st October and 4th November 2002.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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