Age UK has joined a fight for a “best practice protocol” to give older people a better chance of finding work.
The charity which champions older people is partnering with the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) in a campaign to fight age discrimination in recruitment.
With four out of ten unemployed older workers out of work for more than a year, the “protocol” sets out a series of recommendations intended to ensure older jobseekers are not overlooked during the recruitment process.
The UK’s workforce is ageing: between 2012 and 2022, there will be an additional 3.7 million people aged between 50 and State Pension age.
This alongside the trend of increasing numbers of people working beyond State Pension age means there will be many more older workers active in the UK.
Although there are existing laws against age discrimination, age can still be a consideration during the recruitment process with some employers still requesting a maximum age for candidates and using negative stereotypes of older workers to make hiring decisions.
The guide shows how recruiters can help employers look beyond stereotypes and explains that there are no reasons for older workers to be less productive than their younger counterparts.
It asks recruiters to designate an internal advocate for older people who can defend their skills and experience to business and cautions against potentially discriminatory language in job adverts – words like “energetic” or “vibrant” can be interpreted as code for younger workers.
It also calls on the industry to use a range of platforms when advertising jobs so those older people who do not use social media are not excluded.
Kevin Green, REC chief executive, said: ‘There is an enormous skills crisis looming. The UK is suffering from skills shortages across the economy and at the same time businesses say they can’t take on more work without more staff.
“Older workers have a huge amount of experience, skill and knowledge to offer organisations.”
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