By: Patrick Thomson

The job market is going through dramatic changes with the impact of COVID-19, new technology and Brexit. The way that we find and move work is more important than ever, and yet all too many people face barriers and bias in recruitment because of their age. Ageing Better’s Good Recruitment for Older Workers (GROW) project has used new and innovative research methods to explore this topic further.

The project has found that many older workers are shut out of the recruitment process with employers failing to identify and tackle potential age bias and not seeing it as a ‘problem’ in their organisation. Yet age-bias is widely experienced with 36% of people in their 50s and 60s saying their age disadvantaged them in applying for jobs, higher than any other age group. All too often we hear examples of people being told they have “too much experience”, impacting on their livelihoods, confidence and later lives.

As part of the project Ageing Better partnered with the Behavioural Insights Team to carry out an innovative online experiment with 5,000 individuals from a range of ages. We showed different age groups different job ads, carefully constructed with younger and older age stereotypical language. For instance job ads looking for candidates who were ‘innovative’, ‘adaptable’, or ‘energetic’. We then explored how that made different ages feel about whether they would apply, felt they would get an interview, or if they would fit with the job or the employer.

The results showed:

• Words and phrases can have an effect on whether older candidates’ feel they will be successful rather than stopping them from applying.
• Younger-age stereotypical words are more commonly used in real job advertisements than older-age stereotypical words.
• Using language that appeals more broadly to older candidates does not deter younger applicants.

While changing words or phrases were not a silver bullet in themselves making changes such as advertising jobs as flexible or including a short diversity statement could make a statistical difference in whether older applicants applied.

The ways in which employers recruit are changing rapidly, and it is important that any new trends and behaviours are inclusive to all regardless of age. Employers can demonstrate their commitment to this through inclusive branding, creating a positive candidate experience and ensuring that long-term trends, such as the increasing use of technologies like data analytics, are evaluated for their effect on diversity and inclusion.

With the pandemic presenting huge challenges for workers, jobseekers and businesses, it has never been more important for employers to make sure they are genuinely recruiting the best person for the job – regardless of characteristics like gender, race, or age. This means putting in place robust strategies to tackle bias in the recruitment process.

The next stage of the GROW project will involve working with employers, recruiters and innovators to look at how these findings can be used in the real world to adapt and improved existing processes or explore new approaches.