How to counter age bias
Applicants who can counter an unconscious bias against older Australians during the recruitment process are more likely to get a foot in the door, report academics and business groups.
Despite more workplaces committing to hiring and promoting people over 55, the bias is so entrenched that workers must actively break down negative stereotypes themselves during their first contact with employers.
Eyal Gringart, of Edith Cowan University’s school of psychology and social science, said recent research showed mature-age workers often unconsciously bought into negative stereotypes, hurting their chances of getting work.
“Employers are not always consciously discriminating against older workers,” Dr Gringart said.
“When they are faced with 100 or more CVs to sift through, those negative stereotypes are activated by details which reveal age and, under pressure and limited time, many of those applications will fall to the bottom of the pile based on unconscious negative attitudes.”
Dr Gringart said two decades of research had shown that age discrimination was a global phenomenon, occurring across industries and cultures. It was a complex issue but policy changes and more workplace programs would bring awareness to long-held beliefs — for employers and their employees.
“We know that by 2052, more than a quarter of us will be 65 or more, so it’s inevitable business will have to employ older workers as we live longer. But the question is do we want to build a healthy and happy workforce now where decision- makers are more open to hiring and retraining older workers?”
Dr Gringart said interviews with older workers showed levels of wellbeing and satisfaction were affected by assumptions older workers were slower, less adaptable to new technologies and more prone to illness.
Older applicants should believe in themselves and counter negative stereotypes in their cover letters, showing they were energetic, interested in technology and adaptable. They should seek industries such as teaching, where older workers were seen as an asset.
Australian Institute of Management WA chief executive Gary Martin said more organisations were embracing older workers and any assumptions that older applicants were less creative, less productive and more expensive to employ were starting to break down.
“Those same organisations are more aware older employees can actually outperform their younger colleagues on many aspects of their work, ” he said.
“Employers also acknowledge older workers have better communication skills, make excellent role models for younger colleagues and can fulfil an important mentoring role.”
Professor Martin said some businesses were still hiring mid-career applicants over older applicants with the same skills and, in those cases, the onus was on the jobseeker to change this attitude.
“Make use of a network of professional contacts in generating employment opportunities and join a professional association related to your chosen field of work, ” he said.
Figures from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA show 18 per cent of the working population is aged 55 or more, equating to 248,700 workers.
Workforce development services manager Lena Constantine said employers should take steps to address unconscious bias in selecting the best candidate for the job.
ABS figures showed workers aged over 55 were five times less likely to change jobs, the least likely to take days off because of ill health and the fastest-growing users of new technologies.
