The latest AARP Bulletin unveiled a blatant yet seriously underreported issue plaguing older workers in America: discrimination, also referred to as ageism. The lead article in cover story was written by Joe Kita, a distinguished investigative reporter, book author and magazine editor.
In 2018, an AARP survey discovered 3 in 5 older workers experienced age discrimination; the same survey indicated 76 percent of that cohort saw age discrimination as a real problem in finding a job. In another cited more than 50 percent of older workers are prematurely pushed out of their jobs and 90 percent never earn as much again.
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Employment age discrimination is found in three areas:
- “Recruitment and hiring, when younger applicants are shown favor simply due to their age.
- “On-the-job bias, when older workers get fewer training opportunities, promotions or rewards, or are harassed.
- “Termination, when a company ‘freshens’ its workforce or trims its budget by targeting older workers.”
The federal government’s oversight agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, issued a report in 2018 that said “…age discrimination remains a significant and costly problem for workers, their families and our economy.”
I will have more to say about ageism in subsequent posts.