Ageism is alive and well

I hit upon this issue the other day- ageism. It's not only a problem in New Zealand- one that is seldom discussed- but in other places too, such as the United Kingdom. There, when you are about 30 you are "too old", or rather "not a good fit" for an organisation. It's all about semantics.

In both the UK and NZ ageism might be against the law- in other words, discriminatory - but this doesn't mean anything to potential employers who usually don't respond to potential candidates. Maybe it's the fear of saying the wrong thing.

I then looked up ageism and NZ and found this article from four months ago. Ageism is a phenomenon that is clearly alive and well in NZ. Here it is.

I hope that others, including in other countries, know that they are not alone.

45 and unemployable - warning to Kiwis that 'ageism is alive and well'

Rob Stock Sep 16 2018

Younger Kiwis tend to write off people as "old" long before they should. Such perceptions could be contributing to ageism in the workplace.

"I tell anybody over the age of 45, 'Don't resign from your position unless you have got another job in your pocket'," taxi driver Denis Hunt says.

Hunt "bought himself a job" by setting himself up as a Corporate Cabs driver taking high-flying business people from meeting to meeting.

Once it was him doing the meetings, but despite a wealth of corporate experience in trade facilitation and marketing, Hunt has given up on using those skills again.

He's convinced he's a victim of ageism.

Hunt's pre-taxi industry career was an adventure in exports and foreign postings.

In the 1970s, he was a regional dairy manager for the NZ Dairy Board (now Fonterra) opening markets in South East Asia.

Corporate Cabs driver Denis Hunt's export and marketing expertise has been lost to the jobs market. He believes ageism means he will never use those skills again.

He spent the 1980s in marketing and export management for the NZ Fishing Industry, and Watties, including four years as the food giant's representation in Tokyo.

The 1990s saw him become New Zealand's trade commissioner to Sri Lanka and Singapore.

He then became managing director of the NZ Fruitgrowers Association, followed by a stint at Victoria University of Wellington managing domestic and international student recruitment and international relationships, and then a stint at Enzafoods as sales manager.

But then he found himself on the outer, increasingly convinced his age was counting against him.

The first time his age was cited as a problem was when he was just 48.

He put in for a senior marketing role being filled by a recruitment agency, but he didn't make the shortlist, and one of the recruiters told him the agency had used age to reduce the number of applicants.

"The guy said they had had 140 applications, and they cut it off after the age of 40."

He said since then he's never even got an interview for roles being filled for employers by recruitment agencies.

Tricks like leaving his age off his CV didn't help. recruiters can always find out. They only need to ask for an identity document, like a passport.

Very few people bother to complain when they are discriminated against. There's around 60 complaints each year to the Human Rights Commission, but the Equal Employment Opportunities commission believes there is widespread under reporting.

Some might think at 67 now, Hunt would just give up, but despite having sufficient wealth to live on, and a high-flying working wife, 20 years his junior, he doesn't feel ready to.

"I think I've got another 10 years in me," he said.

It is illegal when filling most positions to discriminate based on age, but Hunt is not alone in believing the odds are stacked against them using their hard-earned skills once they get a few grey hairs.

​Surveying by the Commission for Financial Capability indicates Hunt is not alone among older workers thinking they will be discriminated against should they be forced to find a new job.

The commission conducted the survey in a bid to assess their sense of their financial resilience as part of Money Week, the annual week set aside for personal financial capability lifting.

When asked to agree or disagree with the statement "It would be easy for me to find a new job", if they lost their current one, 15 per cent of people aged 55 to 64 "strongly disagreed".

That compared to just 7 per cent of 18 to 35 year-olds, and 9 per cent of 35 to 54 year-olds.

Another 18 per cent of 55 to 64 year-olds "disagreed" they would easily find work.

Retirement Commissioner Diane Maxwell said: "Ageism is alive and well in the job market, sometimes cloaked in vague comments like 'not the right fit'."

"We need this issue to be addressed at the board table level so that organisations develop a clear plan to attract and retain older workers."

It wasn't only in hiring older people that employers were doing a poor job.

"Managers need to feel ok about hiring someone older than them and we need to be able to have conversations between older workers and employers about what the employee needs and wants as they age.

"At the moment we have an awkward stand off as employees feel they will be exited if they mention changing needs as they age, like maybe wanting to reduce hours, and managers feel they will cause offence if they raise it. We need to rip the band aid off that one if we're going to make things better."

WHEN AGE DISCRIMINATION IS OK

There are a number of situations in which it is legal to discriminate based on somebody's age, according to the Human Rights Commission.

In the workforce:
* Private households engaging domestic workers can discriminate based on candidates ages.
* Where age is a genuine occupational qualification, for safety, or any other reason.
* A worker can be retired at a particular age if their employment contract is in writing, was in force on 1 April 1992, and a retirement age is specified in it.

When selling things:
* In insurance, if different treatment is based on reliable information relating to life-expectancy, accidents or sickness.
* Companies can provide for provision of group travel based on age.
* It's also fine to provide age-related pricing, for example, offering discounts to older people.

When setting up a club:
* It's also legal to organise sporting events for certain age groups.
* It's also ok to have age as a criteria of membership for a club.

When providing accommodation:
* Retirement villages, for example, can set minimum ages for residents, for example.