Age Biasness in Corporate

• Posted In : 2021-Jun-01

 Just like beauty, bias manifests in the eyes of the beholder.

That is exactly the case with Smita who in her late 40s, after the death of her husband in an unfortunate incident, couldn't find a job. After the death of Nishant, the burden of responsibility of the family fell on Smita’s shoulders. A software engineer before a few years, she neither lacked experience nor qualification however wherever she applied she was rejected, and only later being made aware of how she was replaced by someone younger than her who lacked the knowledge and experience she possessed. 

Find out whether you ever been in a similar situation like Smita and were rejected because of your age.  

The prejudice that manifests because of someone’s age is called ageism and is also something that is casually ignored in the workplace. On the surface level, it might occur when someone is cast out of a group in the workplace because of their age, which could be because the group members are young or old and would like the members of the group of the same age group. According to a survey conducted in the year, 2020 around 33 percent of Indian employees have been targeted by ageism which was highest among other biases occurring at a workplace.

Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.

Ageism in corporate often takes against people from an older age group because of the industry’s need for youth which is conventionally considered more active and suitable to charm clients. It is observed in terms of layoffs where the number of older people eliminated is higher than that of younger people because for a position that is not and the personnel is simply replaced by someone younger. Ageism just like other biases is not at all acceptable especially at a workplace considering it is fathomed from the delusionary capitalistic belief that someone mature is resistant to changes and face difficulty in adjusting as compared to someone young who is believed to be more flexible even if it comes at the cost of experience and knowledge of the field. Consequences of such conduct include training costs and an atmosphere of dissent and resistance. It gets worse for women because of sexism at the workplace as older women are treated more unfairly than older men, be it overlooking their opinions and ideas or ignoring their presence, or completely rejecting them in the hiring process which is what happened with Smita. The trajectory of the intersecting biases only makes working difficult for an employee.  

Age enhances your value, your experience, and your wisdom

For an employer to avoid any prejudice from their side towards employees in terms of age, they are often expected to recognize stereotyping at the workplace, offer equal training and opportunities to all the employees, and conduct brainstorming session for people from different backgrounds to promote diverse thinking perspectives and acknowledge people on the efficiency of their work and results. As for an employee to be able to tackle ageism they ought to be active to break the stereotypical notions of people at the workplace about them. It is necessary to call out biases that are noticeable however it is advisable to be entirely sure and avoid assuming anything. One should reach authorities or social and human resource institutions in cases of ageism, and work on changing the perception of people and eventually making them realize the benefits of an age-diverse workplace

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Author - Aryan Gulati

An avid reader, researcher, and versatile content writer who is still learning and enjoys the company of animals and books on a peaceful Sunday evening.

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