Ageism Is Thriving, So What Are Companies Doing About It?

A 2018 AARP poll found nearly two out of three workers older than 45 have seen or experienced age discrimination on the job, reports Fast Company . Of the 61 percent of respondents who reported age bias, 91 percent think this discrimination is endemic. The latest Equal Employment Opportunity Commission study of age discrimination in hiring looked at more than 40,000 applications for over 13,000 jobs in 12 cities across 11 states in 2015. Both genders, especially between 64 to 66 years old, experienced ageism, and were more often denied job interviews than middle-age applicants 49 to 51 years old. Erin Thomas with Paradigm says age is a demographic seldom shared in diversity reports, mainly because most companies have rigid mindsets about the skills and roles of older versus younger employees. "Baby boomers are 60 percent less likely and Gen Xers are 33 percent less likely to be hired compared to their representation in the workforce," she adds. "This generational blindspot has become reinforced and grown because older workers haven't been given opportunities to defy negative assumptions about what they're able to do."