An Aging Workforce Continues to Face Ageism

Age discrimination is alive and well

Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash

Excuse me for being repetitive, but I’m writing about age discrimination in the workplace…again.

I recently wrote about the economic impact of age discrimination. Now I want to talk about the human cost. A research study jointly conducted by New York University and Stanford University revealed that younger workers are persistently prejudiced against older workers — and the younger the workers are, the more ageist views they hold. In fact, the study found that workers who openly oppose racism and sexism in the workplace are still prejudiced against older workers.

Richard Eisenberg of NextAvenue asked Michael North, one of the researchers, some penetrating questions about the study. North expressed this disturbing takeaway from interviewing younger workers: “There’s this sort of subtle tension where older adults are expected to step aside and get out of the way and stop creating this perceived logjam in the distribution of resources or jobs or positions of influence, so the younger generation can get their turn.”

North said he believed that “ageism is socially condoned to a point where it’s not uncommon for folks to overlook it as a prejudice.” In a 2014 article he co-authored for Harvard Business Review, North wrote about four…