Ageism in the Post-Pandemic Workplace

An intergenerational workforce can help combat ageism in the workplace and the community

Ageism is a prejudice that’s particularly damaging because not only does it “pit us against our future selves,” but it has economic and social consequences, especially in the post-COVID workplace. 

A survey conducted by AARP in 2022 among 2,945 U.S. adults aged 50-plus found some pretty depressing results. 

For recent job hunters, a potential employer asked 53% of survey participants to provide their birth date and 47% to provide a graduation date during the interview process. Fifteen percent of job seekers found that they were not hired for a job due to their age.

Ninety-three percent of survey participants believe that age discrimination is common in modern workplaces. Sadly, 32% of older workers report having heard negative comments about a fellow older coworker’s age, and 17% have experienced negative comments about their age. One in ten have been passed over for a promotion due to their age.

Other findings in the study include that among those over 50 who were passed over for a job, 37% were more likely to talk with a friend or family member than with a coworker (16%) or supervisor (11%). Many people did not speak up to human resources because they believed it wouldn’t do anything. 

Senior workers make excellent mentors to less experienced professionals

Is There a Bright Side?

The silver lining is that 89% of adults over 50 agreed that workforce participants should be protected from age discrimination, and 92% support efforts to strengthen the nation’s age discrimination laws. 

Creating awareness on a corporate level could also help. The Society of Human Resources Management states that ageism prevention practices may include: 

• Starting a conversation about ageism with an intergenerational workforce—define what ageism is and address it in the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion policy.
• Creating mentor roles for older workers.
• Training employees and management on harassment and discrimination prevention policies in the workplace.
• Considering a voluntary retirement policy for employees to obtain benefits if they retire at a certain age.

The Big Picture

Tackling ageism on a governmental, corporate, and even individual level is vital. 

As people are generally living longer – and the labor force participation rate is increasing the fastest for people ages 65 to 74 and 75 and older – we need to find ways to eradicate the one type of discrimination that eventually affects everybody.