Title: Young and older people 'experience age discrimination at work' | Discrimination at work | The Guardian
Headings: Young and older people 'experience age discrimination at work'
Discrimination at work
Young and older people 'experience age discrimination at work'
DWP research shows perceptions towards those aged over 70 are more positive than towards those in their 20s, unless they are in senior roles
Graham Snowdon

Content: However, this varied by as much as 20 years in relation to the age of the respondent: the age at which youth stopped and old age started increased in relation to the age of the respondent. Denise Keating, chief executive of the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion, said the findings showed that more needed to be done to prevent age discrimination at work. "We have seen a very high instance of age-related unfairness, particularly when people are selected for a new job or promotion only if their 'face fits', which unfortunately means some people feel that talent isn't enough to overcome such prejudices," Keating said. "While many companies have solid diversity policies, this may not run throughout the company, which is an issue that needs to be addressed. It is important that employers do all they can to ensure this does not lead to discrimination or favouritism of any kind, which could cause the exclusion of talented individuals from the workplace." Just over a third of respondents said they had seen some age-related prejudice in the past year. Experiences of age discrimination were more common for younger groups, with under-25s at least twice as likely to have experienced it than other age groups. In general terms, people in their 40s were viewed as having the highest status, while on average people aged over 70 were given a higher status than those in their 20s. Keating urged employers to renew their commitment to building age-diverse workplaces. "