July 26, 2010
Elderly employees are finding it increasingly difficult to locate new employment due to an “invisible wall” of ageism currently plaguing the country’s employment sector, leading charity Age UK has warned.
The news follows data released by the Department of Communities and Local Government Citizenship Survey: 2009-10, which revealed that ageism is still the biggest cause of recruitment discrimination.
According to the figures, four per cent of all workers aged 50 and over have been refused a job purely because of their age in the past five years, equal to more than 300,000 employees.
"The spreading perception of ageism in recruitment shows that, for older workers, the job market is still not fit for purpose,” responded Michelle Mitchell, Age UK Director.
"As more mature workers are pushed into the recruitment arena by the reassessment of welfare-to-work benefits, hundreds of thousands of them will risk coming up against the invisible wall of ageism."
Additional unemployment figures show that 40% of workers aged 50 or over have been out of work for more than a year, marking the highest incidence of long-term unemployment among any UK age group.
And, with the government ready to increase state retirement age, forcing employees to work well into their 60’s, Ms Mitchell added that more needs to be done to secure a stable foundation and job market for older workers.
Her view has been supported by Chris Ball, Chief Executive of The Age and Employment Network (TAEN).
"Given that the coalition Government has committed to speeding up the rise in the state pension age, working longer will become a necessity for more and more people,” added Mr Ball.
"Employers of all shapes and sizes need to urgently wake up to the fact that people will need to work longer and make sure that their recruitment policies are fair. Extending working lives will not succeed without this overdue shift in culture."
If you’ve fallen victim to age discrimination in the workplace and feel your chances of finding new employment have been severely hampered by employer prejudice, solicitors are here to help make sure your plight does not go unnoticed.
With strict time periods dictating whether or not you can file and employment claim, consult with expert solicitors today and find out what options are available.
