Ikäsyrjintä|One in four people over the age of 50 had encountered a negative stereotype related to their own age, according to a study in the field of technology.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
A recent study brings to the fore hidden age discrimination in the field of technology.
Two out of three people over 50 don’t think they would find a job if they were unemployed.
Women encounter age-related negative stereotypes significantly more than men.
Should be under 50 years old, and preferably male.
According to a recent study, many middle-aged job seekers face such cold criteria. Only one in three people over the age of 50 in the field of technology believe that they would get a job if they were unemployed.
“One wonders why that age is such a big problem. People are needed for work and there are complaints about the labor shortage, but it still feels that the employee must very precisely fit a certain mold”, says the research manager Susanna Bairoh About technical academics, or TEK.
The technology sector’s interest organization asked its members what they think about age discrimination. There were more than 1,300 respondents to the anonymous online survey. The quotations in the story are open-ended responses taken from the survey.
Of the respondents over 50 years of age, one in four had encountered a negative stereotype related to their own age. Women encountered them significantly more than men.
Research open comments reveal boring recruitment processes:
“A few said quite frankly that the CEO or someone else involved in the recruitment had said that people over 50 should not be hired here,” says Bairoh.
Recruitment may have been outsourced to another company or headhunters.
“From the comments, it emerged that if there is a really young group there, do they know how to value older experience?”
“I was recruiting an experienced sales manager. The CEO announced that no one over 50 will be hired.”
“People over 55 are problem waste, said one colleague during coffee hour.”
Prejudices towards age are partly rooted in agricultural history. The heavy physical work froze quickly.
“Before, a walking stick was given as a 50th anniversary present.”
The increase in living standards and age, combined with digitalization, changed the spirit of the game. In computer work, an older expert can be better than a young one, because he knows, for example, old and new code.
“I would personally see that we should value those who know older software languages.”
HS reported earlier from the software industry’s concern that there are too few senior professionals with critical skills in the industry.
“One veil of age discrimination is also ‘you are overqualified’.”
Equality Act prohibits age discrimination, but many cases in working life remain in the gray area.
“On the whole, discrimination is difficult to study because it is a subjective experience that can be difficult to objectively verify.”
The thorn of age sneaks up on the use of language in offices: there is a glint in the corner of the eye, that either it is being braked tiredly towards retirement.
Bairoh blames the change in the attitude climate.
“In particular, the attitude of superiors and senior management is decisive. We would wake up to see if these ideas of ours about age are true. It has to be done there at the workplace,” says Bairoh.
“On the one hand, it’s a bit of a boring solution because it’s not easy. It’s a long way.”
“Everything has been seen. Too old, no ambition, cooler, no motivation, not comfortable in modest tasks, in bad shape, sick, ram, old skills, doesn’t learn new, doesn’t want to learn new, can’t learn new, doesn’t enjoy being in a group, not youthful and dynamic, too expensive and so on.”