It’s been 50 years since the enactment of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
At a public meeting held 6/14/17 entitled “The ADEA @ 50 – More Relevant Than Ever,” several experts told the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that persistent age discrimination and stereotypes about older workers continue to channel older workers out of the workforce, limiting further economic growth.
“With so many more people working and living longer, we can’t afford to allow age discrimination to waste the knowledge, skills, and talent of older workers,” said Acting Chair Victoria A. Lipnic. “Outdated assumptions about age and work deprive people of economic opportunity and stifle job growth and productivity.”
According to a 2017 AARP survey, almost two-thirds of workers age 55-64 report their age as a barrier to getting a job. A study done in 2015 using resumes for workers at various ages found substantial discrimination in hiring for female applicants and older applicants.
Laurie McCann, a senior attorney for AARP Foundation Litigation, cited hiring discrimination and mandatory retirement as persistent problems that older workers face across industries. She called on the EEOC to strengthen ADEA protections and enforcement.
A combination of societal tradition and flawed business practices “that channel older people out of the work force, especially skilled workers, is damaging the economic health of our country,” John Challenger of the firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., told the Commission, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Challenger noted that if more older workers stayed in the workforce, it would significantly reduce the skilled worker shortage in the U.S.
Research refutes assumptions that older workers are less productive, technophobic or inflexible, explained Sara Czaja, director of the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE). “Unfortunately, numerous negative stereotypes about older workers still exist that often prevent or have a negative impact on employment opportunities for older people. These stereotypes can also prevent organizations from realizing the wealth of positive assets, such as wisdom, experience, and reliability that older workers can bring to the table.”
Experts anticipate that the older worker population will continue to grow, said Jacqueline James of The Center on Aging & Work at Boston College. James told the Commission that “employers have been slow to innovate,” as it relates to addressing older workers’ preferences in recruitment and hiring, retention, and preventing age bias. The Center worked with the AARP to develop a benchmarking tool to help employers manage the current multigenerational workforce.
EEOC has posted biographies and statements of all panelists, and will post a video of the meeting within a few days, and a full transcript within a few weeks. These can all be found at https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/meetings/index.cfm.
I’d like to put in my two cents on age discrimination. I worked for the federal government for 32 years and never once felt that there was any evidence of age discrimination occurring. I applied for my final job with the government in 2013 when I was 61 years old and competed with folks half my age and still got it.
The other thing I notice now is that older workers are everywhere! When my kids were teenagers, they were the only game in town for fast food places. Now I notice there are many older workers in fast food, as servers, wait staff, salespersons, etc. Now I realize that this could be because older folks have to work now versus many years ago when they did not have to work and could live on their retirement, but still it seems like today’s business value older workers.
But I have to listen to the experts and they say that age discrimination is alive and well. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 50 years to fix it!