Retirement Planning, Elder Law, and Senior Finance Confronting Ageism in the Workplace 11/29/2023 | By Emma Patch Q: By 2034, Americans 65 and older will outnumber children younger than 18. Yet older adults still face biases based on their age. How can older adults and their advocates push back in confronting ageism? A: All of us need to learn about ageism and understand that it isn’t just a matter of a few bad actors. It’s baked into the media, popular storylines, the movies, even in birthday cards about older people. We’re surrounded by it, and we internalize it. Reaching out to other generations and talking to people who are different ages than you, whether at work or outside of it, are effective ways to address ageism. Sitting down and having coffee together can help us see each other as allies rather than competitors. Changing the Narrative does workshops that make the case for older workers and intergenerational teams and refute common myths and stereotypes. Research shows that age diversity offers the same benefits as other forms of diversity: more creativity, better team problem-solving, greater productivity, the opportunity for reciprocal mentoring and more profitability. We point out that younger people and older people often want the same things. For example, part-time work and flexible hours are desirable for older people, but they’re also highly desirable for someone who is a caregiver for a younger child or is in college or graduate school. Q: How does ageism affect people in the workplace? A: Our laws against age discrimination aren’t as strong as laws against other forms of discrimination. People get pushed out at a certain age even though they still have so much to give. A 2021 AARP study found that more than three-fourths of people ages 40 and older had either witnessed or experienced age discrimination in the workplace. A Resume Builder study of 800 hiring managers found that 38% admitted to screening out job candidates based on their age, without even looking at their qualifications. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently settled a case against a company that used an algorithm that screened out women older than age 55 and men older than age 60. Don’t get me started on the five-year differential between men and women. In any given month, we have 10 million unfilled jobs in the United States. At the same time, we have older people who are willing and able to work and want to learn new things. Q: What resources can help older workers fight age discrimination? A: In almost every community, there is a workforce development center that usually has a suite of services for job seekers. Increasingly, they’re developing programs tailored to people older than 50. We also recommend some books: “In Control at 50+,” by Kerry Hannon, which provides a guide to navigating the changing workplace, and “Breaking the Age Code,” by Becca Levy of the Yale School of Public Health. Emma Patch is a senior writer at Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine. For more on this and similar money topics, visit Kiplinger.com. ©2023 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Read similar ageism articles on Seniors Guide: Elderspeak: Don’t patronize me! As an Amazon Associate, Seniors Guide earns from qualifying purchases of linked books and other products. Read More Emma Patch Emma Patch is a staff writer at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. For more on this and similar money topics, visit Kiplinger.com.