Age discrimination is rife in the UK workplace despite being illegal, according to the latest the Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI), by Cranfield School of Management.
Some nine per cent of respondents had been discriminated against for being too old in the past year. Overall, a third had been discriminated against for being too young, although only three per cent had been discriminated against for being too young in the past year.
Dr Emma Parry, research fellow at Cranfield School of Management, said: “The research shows a lack of commitment at senior management and board level to stamp out ageism in the workplace. The message to business is clear – age discrimination is illegal. HR professionals need board and CEO level support to stamp out age discrimination for good.”
The study showed that trade unions were seen as having the greatest impact as a barrier to eliminating age discrimination in the workplace, followed by customer profile, cost, and the attitudes of employee representatives.
The vast majority of respondents had not felt discriminated against because of their age during the last year and almost two thirds (59 per cent) have never been discriminated against because of their age.
