Age Discrimination – Who Would You Hire?
Bob Bly wrote a blog last week called No Jobs for Us Folks Over 50 that has garnered a lot of comments.
His premise is that employers feel the over 50 set are too expensive, low on energy and have their sites set on retirement.
However, the younger generation isn't a slam dunk as their job loyalty is non-existent, their work ethic is missing and they feel the world owes them a living.
I taught a workshop at the beginning of the month on generational advertising and there are truly significant differences in the under 30 workers and the over 50 professionals.
The over 50 group has a Pride in their work product and a feeling of ownership over the corporate results that is missing in the younger workers. When I worked at Pearle Vision, my dad would chastise me for the amount of hours I would put in and the extra projects I'd volunteer for. He said "It doesn't say Debbie Vision over the door."
True – but my belief is, if every worker produced as if it DID have their name over the door – companies would be better for it and ultimately so would the employees.
So what do you think? Is this younger generation with their techno backgrounds, flexible spirit and job jumping tendencies the kind of employee you are looking for, or would you consider hiring an older professional for your next opening?
Human Resources | Deborah Brown | 20 December 2006 |
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By Kare Anderson, December 20, 2006 @ 11:51 am
I’d hire the person who reflected the spirit you described, regardless of age – and who was a self-starter to make and keep agreements & make suggestions for how to improve our service and product – regardless of age. The best option for all concerned is when we have a mix of ages/backgrounds/skills so both the people we hire and the people we serve can benefit by learning from each other. As a boomer, I love working around that younger, flexible, tech-savvy and ambitious men and women who expect to be heard and to partipate in the strategic decisionmaking where they work.
And this site is such a valuable place to support that attitude.
Another fan of Bizinformer & Steve
Kare, SavvyHer
By Deborah, December 20, 2006 @ 9:01 pm
Thanks for your response, Kare. You are right – a mix of generations is a great way to build a team! Glad you are a fan of BizInformer!
By Kelvin, January 4, 2007 @ 10:47 pm
This age discrimination is rife. The other day I was talking to a lady who just blew me away with her comment about a friend of mine who is 82 years of age. I was so upset I even went to the trouble of writing a blog on the incident, which I have attached.
This woman put down my friend because of his age and stated that he should not be working because he is 82. The fact is it is his own business and he has run it for 64 years does not matter. She made a blanket discriminatory statement because of his age. You can find my blog at /http://protectallyourassets.blogspot.com
I would like to here your comments as they relate to age discrimination from this point of view.
Regards,
Kelvin.
By RitaMC, February 22, 2007 @ 11:08 am
I do believe that age discrimination is becoming a real problem in today’s society.
I found these articles which might help people over forties and over fifties to find a job.
jobs for over 40 info
jobs for over 40 info
jobs for over 50 info