People have misconceptions about older workers. Many employers may feel that older workers will want a higher salary or will be less likely to pick up on new technology. This is not always true.
For interview and resume' tips you can used to avoid workplace Age discrimination click this link. There is also concise information about age discrimination laws:http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/careerresources/a/agediscriminat.htm
Some of the tips include:
- "On your resume limit your experience to 15 years for a managerial job, 10 years for a technical job, and 5 years for a high-tech job
- Leave your other experience off your resume or list it without dates in an Other Experience category
- Consider using a functional resume rather than a chronological resume"(Allison Doyle, About.com)
John Stossel from ABC news has a different perspective on Age Discrimination in the workplace. He expresses it in one of his "Give me a break" segments. He basically calls laws that protect older workers bad for companies because they stifle innovation and "creative destruction," a process that companies go through, where they tear down the workforce and build it up with new people. He uses the example of three radio personalities that were abruptly fired and replaced with younger people who better fit with the company's new image.
Click this Link for a video done by ABC News about Age discrimination in the workplace:
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5
Here is the link to the employment laws reffered to in the article and above video link:
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/discrimination/agedisc.htm
What do you think: Should companies be able to fire someone who is doing their job perfectly well just because they are getting older?
3 comments:
Your post is interesting considering the fact that many people in this class are seniors, and we are about to go out and find a job. Many jobs that I am applying for have 2-5 years experience. It is discouraging.
You also mentioned people who experience age discrimination who are older. Who do you think is more likely to have their age count against them--someone with too much experience or not enough?
I think, the experience requirements should depend on the job. As you mentioned in your blog, management positions require 15 years of experience. In my opinion, this is really necessary. You need your time to know the place you're working at and the business you're in inside out. And that takes its time. In those positions I think, there is no age discrimination.
In other branches, like technology, those high experience requirements are senseless in my opinion. Almost every day the branch changes, provides new technologies and inventions. I think, age matters here. "Older" employees are mostly told to be already out of touch with the business. So, I think it depends on the business. Sometimes experience matters and sometimes new, innovative and young ideas matter. It's just the question, whether only younger people can provide those ideas...
I do not feel that elderly people should be discriminated in the workplace. Sometimes the elderly are the most reliable people in the work place. I worked at a local grocery store for almost three years and if no one came to work you could believe that the "more seasoned" people would be there.
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