AGE DISCRIMINATION AND OUTDATED VIEWS OF
OLDER WORKERS PERSIST, EXPERTS TELL COMMISSION
In
50th Anniversary of ADEA, Impact of Age Discrimination Felt Across
Nation’s Economy
WASHINGTON—
Persistent age discrimination and stereotypes about older workers continue to
channel older workers out of the workforce, limiting further economic growth, experts
told the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) at a public
meeting today entitled “The ADEA @ 50 - More Relevant Than Ever,” held at
agency headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“With so many more people working
and living longer, we can’t afford to allow age discrimination to waste the
knowledge, skills, and talent of older workers,” said Acting Chair Victoria A. Lipnic.
“Outdated assumptions about age and work deprive people of economic opportunity
and stifle job growth and productivity. My hope is that 50 years after the enactment of the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act (ADEA), we can work together to fulfill the promise of this
important civil rights law to ensure opportunities are based on ability, not
age.”
Nearly
two-thirds of workers age 55-64 report their age as a barrier to getting a job,
as reported by a 2017 AARP survey. A comprehensive study in 2015 using resumes
for workers at various ages found significant discrimination in hiring for
female applicants and the oldest applicants, according to a co-author of the
research, Patrick Button, Assistant Professor of Economics at Tulane University
and a researcher with the National Bureau of Economic Research Disability
Research Center (NBER).
Laurie McCann, a senior attorney
for AARP Foundation Litigation, cited hiring discrimination and mandatory
retirement as persistent problems that older workers face across industries.
She called on the EEOC to strengthen ADEA protections and enforcement. “The
ADEA should not be treated as a second-class civil rights statute. On this 50th
Anniversary of the ADEA, AARP urges the EEOC to take bolder action to ensure
older workers are treated fairly at work…” McCann told the Commission.
A combination of societal tradition
and flawed business practices “that channel older people out of the work force,
especially skilled workers, is damaging the economic health of our country,”
John Challenger of the firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., told the
Commission, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Challenger noted that if
more older workers stayed in the workforce, it would significantly reduce the
skilled worker shortage in the U.S.
Research refutes assumptions that
older workers are less productive, technophobic or inflexible, explained Sara
Czaja, director of the Center for Research and Education on Aging and
Technology Enhancement (CREATE). Czaja
discussed practical ways employers could do a better job of integrating older
workers into the workforce by recognizing their value and by matching their
skills and abilities with work environments.
“Unfortunately, numerous negative stereotypes about older
workers still exist that often prevent or have a negative impact on employment
opportunities for older people. These stereotypes can also prevent
organizations from realizing the wealth of positive assets, such as wisdom,
experience, and reliability that older workers can bring to the table,” said
Czaja.
Experts anticipate that the older worker population will continue to grow,
said Jacqueline James of The Center on Aging & Work at Boston College.
James told the Commission that “employers have been slow to innovate,” as it
relates to addressing older workers’ preferences in recruitment and hiring,
retention, and preventing age bias. The Center worked with the AARP to develop
a benchmarking tool to help employers manage the current multigenerational
workforce.
The Commission will hold open the June 14, 2017 Commission meeting
record for 15 days, and invites audience members, as well as other members of
the public, to submit written comments on any issues or matters discussed at
the meeting. Public comments may be mailed to Commission Meeting, EEOC Executive
Officer, 131 M Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20507, or emailed to: Commissionmeetingcomments@eeoc.gov.
The comments provided will be
made available to members of the Commission and to Commission staff working on
the matters discussed at the meeting. In addition, comments may be published on
EEOC's public website, or disclosed in response to Freedom of Information Act
requests and in the Commission's library. Providing comments in response to
this solicitation equals consent to their use and consideration by the
Commission and to their public availability. Accordingly, do not include
any information in submitted comments that you would not want made public, like
home address, telephone number, etc. Also note that when comments are
submitted by e-mail, the sender's e-mail address automatically appears on the message.
EEOC has posted biographies and
statements of all panelists, and will post a video of the meeting within a few
days, and a full transcript within a few weeks. These can all be found at https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/meetings/index.cfm.
The EEOC advances opportunity in the
workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More
information is available at www.eeoc.gov.
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