Monday, October 17, 2011

Why 50+ ers Can't get re-employed

Employers' reasons for favouring younger workers over older workers are often inaccurate but are commonplace in the marketplace: Older workers have more experience and have a historic timeline to use as a salary touchstone.

Therefore, they will request or command higher salaries that smaller organisation are reluctant to pay.

The healthcare overheads, by way of time off sick and possibly health care costs can be higher than younger workers'.

Some employers or hiring personnel, mainly younger staff, view older workers in the same way as their parents i.e. dominant and stubborn, stuck in their ways.

They may also view older workers' current skills or attitudes, as outdated or not completely aligned with what they want. Something that can be easily overcome by training.

We do not condone age, or other discriminatory bias and you will hear very few HR and personnel departments admitting it exists in their organisation.

Clearly, all the reasons employers trot out to not hire older workers are superficially flawed, ridiculous and /or short-sighted. Unfortunately, ageism is real and it is preventing older job seekers from landing jobs in an already fickle, and hyper competitive job market.

It is also reducing the effectiveness and depth of skills available to smaller companies, rendering them less able to compete in tight market conditions.

Good managers can always assess, align and harmonise the views of their staff and by treating them as individuals, they can balance their strengths and weaknesses, to the benefit of their organisations. From this, you can surmise that any form of discrimination is an indication of poor management skills, lazy and short-sighted thinking.

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