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Age-related recruitment bias ‘goes unchecked among most companies’

October 8, 2015  /   No Comments

Nick Elvin

Most companies are failing to carry out checks on hiring and recruitment practices relating to older workers, according to a survey by Mercer.

The vast majority (87%) of respondents to the consulting services firm’s Age-Friendly Employer research do not check whether their people managers hire workers older than themselves. Of the 13% that do measure it, over half found that managers do not hire people older than themselves.

“A lack of monitoring around age-related recruitment biases not only means that companies are potentially breaking age discrimination laws, it also means they might be missing out on a wealth of experience and talent that could benefit the business,” said Yvonne Sonsino, Europe innovation leader at Mercer. “There are limited examples of age equality checks in other key areas too, such as on pay levels by age, performance grade distribution and training spend.

“Such checks need to become a minimum benchmark for all employers, to ensure fairness and equity. There is a direct impact on engagement and productivity at stake here, and those employers that do them already emphasise how effective they can be.”

Mercer’s research found flexible working to be the most prevalent age-friendly working practice among participants, offered by 81%, whereas ‘preparing for retirement’ programmes are offered by just over half (52%). The increasingly popular practice of offering advice and support for those caring for ageing relatives is so far only offered by 45% of companies. Over a third (36%) analyse health and absence by age to investigate the potential cost impact of age related health conditions, however, only 30% offer age-specific wellness programmes.

“By 2050, the number of people over 65 years old will triple worldwide and the number of those over 80 will quadruple,” said Sonsino. “Some countries will be more affected than others, but this demographic change is inescapable. Combined with reduced birth rates, the result is severe skills shortages, which is already impacting employers. Companies will need to understand this change and prepare to survive.

“For HR programmes to meet the needs of multi-generational workforces, recruitment, talent management and job design, retirement savings adequacy, employee education and training, as well as health and wellbeing programmes will need to be reviewed from a new perspective.”

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