Experience Counts - Does it?

[atre...@the-experience-network.co.uk]

Well yes and then again No. It is a sad fact that ageism is a very
serious issue within today's employment market.

The first question you need to ask yourself is "Are you over the
hill"? Have you reached the age when most recruiters/HR departments
will automatically bin your c.v. without looking past your age? Of
course not! Just so long us you haven't celebrated your thirty fifth
birthday yet! Surprising though it may seem 35 is the age when ageism
begins to take effect. Just about the age when you're finally able to
say that you are beginning to have the kind of experience you need to
do the job.

Ageism is now one of the most common forms of discrimination, which
seems strange when you consider that with employees both having to and
choosing to work for longer, the workforce is growing older than ever
before, yet many companies are still focusing their recruitment drives
on the young. This needs to change.

When the retirement age of 65 was introduced during the 1920's, the
average life expectancy for a man was about 58. This has now risen to
around 75. Furthermore it is increasing all the time and it is
expected that by 2050 the average will be around 80. It’s a well-
documented fact people are living longer at a time when birth rates
are falling. These factors represent a major shift in the make up of
the available workforce.

Of course half the problem with ageism is in the way we perceive older
people. All our lives we have known 'older people' and have been
taught to react to them in a particular way. The problem is that
whilst this is normal it seems to have a residual effect in that once
a certain magic number is reached then the view becomes simply 'too
old' and that is that. Admittedly some people age faster than others,
look and act older than other people the same age or even older than
themselves.

But many people do not... Just because you've been around for forty or
so years doesn't mean to say that you fit the stereotypical picture.
Many people don't 'grow old' at least not until long after their
peers. To operate an employment policy that is governed by age is to
ignore a vast pool of high quality talent. As a society we need to
change our perception and in doing so embrace the experienced mature
workforce as the valuable resource it is.

Many employers see an immediate financial benefit from maintaining a
'young' work force. Sadly this ignores completely the values and
accompanying profitability brought by more experienced people and all
to often proves to be non-cost effective.

Companies are currently being urged to rethink their employment
strategies, while the recruitment industry is striving to enlighten
employers against discrimination, to ensure Britain no longer lags
behind. Under a new EU directive, the UK government is set to
introduce new discrimination laws in the areas of age, religion and
sexual orientation, to match age discrimination laws which have been
in place in Ireland since 1999 and in the US since 1967. In October of
2003, European Community member states issued a directive that will
make it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of age.
Unfortunately, the UK Government had until 2006 to translate this
directive into law. (Which it has now done).

But.
Whilst we need the legislation to stimulate and reinforce changes in
social attitudes, just because it is legislation doesn't mean that all
companies will immediately reform their strategies to adopt it. We
cannot afford to wait for this to happen, we need to encourage
companies (employers and recruitment agencies) to learn to accept and
benefit from the experience that comes with age and as experience is
often in short supply, to harness and benefit from it and stop
excluding huge numbers of valuable employees from the workforce.

A. Tremayne.