Ageism can cause certain prejudices and stereotypes to lead to discrimination in the workplace, directly impacting a person’s ability to do their job.
These discriminatory actions and behaviors intentionally or unintentionally push out older workers, forcing them out of their fields or denying them promotions, or more.
False beliefs lead to discrimination
Refined By Age discusses ageism in the workplace. First, it is important to understand institutional ageism. Employment-based discrimination by age has a currently upward-moving trend, as more workers across more fields engage in it wittingly or otherwise.
This is potentially because of a zero-sum workforce. The concept typically revolves around the idea that the loss of one employee must get filled by another. Unfortunately, younger generations tend to twist this around and use it against older workers, stating that every older person employed is a young person who has no place in the workforce.
This concept has grown in cultural significance to the extent that many people actually view older workers as a hindrance to the company or business as a whole, rather than an asset.
Older employees get iced out
Thus, many employers will begin giving their newest and best projects to younger employees on the basis of “culture fit”. This is an automatic assumption that an older generation has nothing to bring to the table and simply will not be able to make a catering product, or may not even grasp new technology.
Facing age discrimination like this can take a toll on a person’s mental health. Fortunately, though, there are options for legal rectification of this treatment, preventing such actions from happening again and holding the business accountable for letting them happen in the first place.
