Ageism In The Workplace

Many employers view the old employers especially the baby boomers as too rigid, failing health, lack of enthusiasm, afraid of new technologies, do not want to learn new training (stuck in old ways), and expensive to keep. Many aged people are viewing job advertisements with pictures of younger employees. In addition, the aged are facing high cost of medical insurance and healthcare. With the obstacles in the job market, the aged could possibly experience social isolationism, low self-esteem, and financial hardship.

Age discrimination in the workforce is a major issue in Today’s society. Although this is hardly ever mentioned, it is a concern that affects the aging population and their work performance. Those who are of old age are often not given a chance and looked down on. They are thought of as being mentally and physically in decline, less adaptable, unwilling to be trained, and costly to the organization. The elderly are considered “slow workers.” They are often forced to work extra hard to prove to their employer, they are capable of working as effective as the young. Defining someone’s work performance according to their age is against the law. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) addresses discrimination against the older population. This Act was passed by congress to ensure people of age 40 and older are given fair judgment in the workforce; however, the maturing population of baby boomers has led to an increasing number of elderly workers. This has cause age discrimination to rise. It is important that we review and analyze age discrimination has a political issues that must be changed. Although ADEA sets out to help the aging population, changes should be made within the employer. In order to seek change, one must first understand ADEA and how it promotes fair treatment for the elderly.

I have not thought about what age I would retire at as many factors can change or influence my decision when that time comes. Health can play a significant role in when I would retire. Hopefully, I have many years of good health, and I will be able to work to my desired age but, if I were to get cancer or other illnesses that may change when I would want to retire. Another aspect I would be looking at is the financial portion of my life. I would hope to have some savings, 401k, pension along with SSI to supplement how I would want to live after I retire.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 was established to provide fairness in the workplace for citizens over the age of 40. This law was intended to guard against employers using unscrupulous hiring practices and unfairly firing individuals without legitimate reasons. The Civil Rights Act was updated to fight discrimination based on sex, race, and religion, but never addressed the issue of age. Age related concerns arose during the 1960’s when the economy began to change rapidly in technology and scope. Many experienced professionals were being displaced or simply discriminated against, because it was believed that it was cheaper to hire and train inexperienced employees, or because it would save on pension expense that was due to personnel approaching retirement age. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 provides security for older employees that have the competency to do work but are held in prejudice, because they are advancing in years.

Age discrimination has long been present in society due to the rapid development happening around us. According to Farney, Aday & Breault (2006), this era of ageism is defined as "discrimination against any age group", but it often is pointed to age discrimination among adults which is slowly causing a negative effect for them in the workplace. In the workplace, adults with more experience and longer history behind them are targets of this ageism belief that companies and employers tend to have (Farney, Aday, & Breault, 2006). They are shunned and even fired in favor of accepting new and fresh faces for the company they have worked for. Unknown to most companies and employers, this notion of favoring the young and banishing the old can

Ageism is described in our notes as prejudice and discrimination to one’s age. (Lynne Ann DeSpelder, 2009) I also like the definition given by Ageism Hurts, which says that ageism “is the stereotyping or discrimination of a person or group of people because of their age.”

The truth is few Canadians spend their senior years concerned about basic living expenses. Attitudes and discrimination in the workplace prove that ageism in the workplace exist. As the oldest baby boomers continuously live into a lengthy working life, they are increasingly undergoing classic age discrimination. According to an AARP study, 28 percent of people aged 50 and over said they experienced age discrimination.

Tech companies are inclined to hire younger people, while discriminating against older ones. These actions create a biased and prejudiced environment. The author summarizes his point by stating, “There is certainly nothing wrong with celebrating or nurturing the success of the young and talented. But it is a problem if what is accepted as the only viable pathway to success is exclusionary.” (65)

Ageism does exist in the work place and I have heard several stories from people that have experienced ageism. However, I don’t believe it should exist in the workplace, because I have learn more from older co-workers than younger co-workers. The older co-workers seemed to be more mature, professional, and have great wisdom and knowledge.

In conclusion, ageism in today’s times is a real form of discrimination and needs to be fixed. An individual’s skills and capabilities should be based on a personal level, not their age. The elderly and the young need just as much job opportunities as the middle-aged individuals living in the

Age discrimination in employment is a complex issue which impacts many areas of Government policy and has many implications for individuals themselves. Age discrimination can occur across all spectrums of employment and can affect both young and old. Age discrimination can affect a person’s chances of getting a job, and potentially their chances of promotion or development within the workplace. Age can also be a factor when employers are deciding who should be selected during a workforce downsize or redundancy of work due to a mergers and acquisitions.

Aging! We all do it every day, but have you ever thought how it is going to affect the rest of your life or more importantly your career? Aging isn’t something that we get to choose if we participate in, however working is, and aging may affect that choice. Right now, I want you to think about the age of sixty-five. What words pop into your head when you think of someone sixty-five? I’d imagine some of the words you thought of were retired, old, fragile, slow, as well as many others. Those words right there all help to explain the many concerns that one’s employer may have when hiring someone that is of the older population. When we think of the older population in the work force we don’t necessarily think of positive things, instead we think of things. When we think of this population in the workforce we generally think of lower production rates and higher costs. These can create issues among the older population, as employers must consider all the possibilities when hiring someone. We know that more people in the older population are continuing to try to continue their careers, but why? How hard is it for them to continue? What changes have made it easier? How are the younger and middle aged populations perceiving them in the work place? This are only some of the many question surrounding the increase of aged workers.

“Sketchy evidence that older workers experience discrimination because of their age is easy to find. The popular press includes many stories of individual employees who have been replaced by younger workers, sometimes just before they become eligible for lucrative retirement benefits. Older workers (in the past) were forced by mandatory

In the labour market, employers and employees make their rational choice to maximise the profits, specifically, the employees make an assessment on their lifetime investment, for example, education, training, social networking and so on. Same as the general market, labour market has a similar way to maximise the efficiency and profits. Therefore, the current phenomena about ageism and ageing discrimination has its reasons to exist in the market, this is worthy for researchers to explore and investigate the implicit reasons why the ageism and ageing discrimination exists and what is the pros and cons of the current related policies.

Age discrimination is an issue today, more than ever especially when companies seek to avoid having to pay retirement or medical benefits and do so by firing older employees who might be about to invest in their pension or who might need medical attention. Another reason is that older employees may be paid more than new hires, so companies replace older workers with new workers just for that reason. This type of change is in addition to those who are simply biased against older workers and who take any opportunity to remove older works and bring in new blood