Traditionally, older workers have been the subject of negative stereotypes and even outright discriminations. Most employers still hold the belief that older workers are expensive, inflexible, resistant to change, less productive and less motivated than younger workers (Hakim, 1993). It is expected to have more of these cases in the future given the older workers’ increasing demand of employment. While most negative stereotypes of older workers have been challenged by empirical data, research also shows that they are nevertheless common in workplace. Generally, the expectation that older workers are less productive may be clouded by the bias that older workers are less healthy, more emotionally fragile, less educated and have less up-to-date knowledge and skills. While all these images of the older workers are accurate to some degree, they do not necessarily describe the people who choose to remain employed at their career. Most stereotypes are myths.
Myth 1: There is no long term benefit to train and develop older workers
In fact, recent trends show that employers provide a higher level of training to older workers in order to postpone the possibility of their leaving from the labour market. There is also a growing tendency for older worker to extend their working life, part of the reasons are mainly due to the better education level. In the
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As mentioned, older workers could have better performances than younger workers. Moreover, older workers are less likely to quit jobs compared with younger workers, this helps to reduce ongoing recruitment and training cost. They have lower rate of absenteeism and greater investment returns in training. Their stay could help maintaining corporate knowledge and saving the employers’ time and cost of “re-work everything”. There is also a strategic business advantage of having employees from different age groups who reflect the diversity of the customer base as
Stereotypes that are associated with a group of older individuals might consist of this particular group being less productive than younger workers within the workplace because of the label attached to their age group. Other aspects that are associated with this group is that they are susceptible to contracting Alzheimer’s disease and they are “boring” or “forgetful”, I feel as though this is the most common stereotype. It is quite unfortunate that this type of discrimination still persists. Though, no act of discrimination should exist or be justified. It is evident that one will follow a social cue to fit in with individuals of a certain group. Author Schaefer mentions that social circumstances provide cues for a person’s attitudes. (Schaefer, 2015. Pg. 38). This notion influences others to act in a particular manner in order to receive a positive or negative reaction from individuals in their proximity. These reactions result from acts or expressions of prejudice. The normative approach, a theory of prejudice, is an exemplification of
Stereotypes affect the day to day living of the elderly, whether it is through job attainment and sustainability, access and use of healthcare, and overall personal autonomy. Due to the current aging population the government of Canada has eliminated the mandatory retirement age and is looking to raise the retirement age (Minichiello, Browne, & Kendig, 2000), from 65 to at least 70, to ensure financial stability for all in the long term (Novac et al., 2014). From the elimination of a mandatory retirement age the older workers have been subject to experience discrimination and stereotypes due to the ability to work for longer periods. Currently for every five working age people (15yrs-64yrs) there is one aged worker (65+yrs) and it is predicted that by 2050 one in less than three (estimated 2.5) will be an aged worker (Government of Canada, 2012). Positive stereotypes include a great knowledge base and the ability to perform certain tasks through experience (Greenlees, Webb, Hall, & Manley, 2007). Negative stereotypes include being frail and in poor physical shape to perform laborious tasks leading to a lack of produ...
The issue at hand constitutes that companies are not willing to look beyond their aging workforce, choosing instead to push them out of the technological loop rather than attempting to incorporate them as valuable assets. "There is enough research that says older workers are dependable, they can change, they can learn. What we haven' t come to grips with is that research and management practice are not always related" (Capowski, 1994, p. 10).
Elderly folks are eminently mature and have the finest instinct about what is right and wrong though It’s challenging to change someone’s point of view in a matter like this. When such injustice takes place, it de-motivates senior workers from their work. In an article over Ageists by Vincent J Roscigno, he states facts about different views on older Americans in general and in workplaces such as, “most of the population consists of biases and preconceptions, and the accused are unashamed in their views of older Americans. Those who believe that younger employees have much more value than senior employees are inserting a strong assumption based on their age. “Ageist attitudes and discrimination is what results in lower levels of overall organizational commitment to older workers, and a “push” out of a particular workplace.” Just because of an older employee’s depiction, such unfairness circulates in workplaces which cause false impressions of older
For an example “The common theme is a fear or a reluctance to hire people under 30, because they are unpredictable, and, ‘they don’t know how to work,’” says Cam Marston (Wooldridge). In the same way this goes along with older people seemly more intelligent, Reliable instead of collage kids which briefly explains why it’s hard to find a job in that sense. Additionally labeling helps discriminate millennia’s especially if from older employees example “Wilkie notes that it’s common for older workers to see younger workers as a threat, and take the easy way out by labeling them as somehow different” (Wooldridge). Hence the reason the older won’t like the younger because of the fear being replaced so they start shaming millennia’s. This is important because ageism is seriously a huge common stereotype in a sense people might judge you on because they feel
(Bendick, Brown & Wall, 1999). A new awareness of older workers has emerged as retiring
Stossel and Mastropolo’s thesis did not come until at the middle of the article when they talked about how Murray Schwartz is convinced “that older people can do the job just as well as younger people and believes that employment age discrimination laws are a crucial protection for older workers” (paragraph 11). With this issue, there are two sides of argument in this article: one is from the corporate as to why it is a necessity to fire people when they come of age, and the second one is from the workers being affected at this age discrimination. There are several people applying for jobs these days and a company attempts to fill that job with the best qualified person. If a per...
As we age, we become more prone to a wide array of diseases, such as cancer and heart disease and treating these diseases most definitely helps us live longer but they do not seem to halt the natural aging process that eventually causes our bodies to weaken and wither away. New research suggests that, like several biological processes, the aging process could also be controlled and this could lead us to live much longer lives. However, commoners and bioethicists alike are often concerned about the bioethical issues pertaining to the life extension phenomena. They argue that the quality of life may be compromised in exchange for longevity and this may be due to intervention in the
Diversity can be differences in age, gender, ethnicity, and religion. Having such a diverse workforce can be very challenging. (1) Today’s workforce is very diverse in respect to age. Before, corporate America consisted of workers ranging from twenty one up to late thirties to early forties. Now, we see people in their mid to late fifties going back to work. This trend has both advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of an older employee over a younger employee is his ability to use his years of experience in situations where a younger employee lacks experience. Another advantage for an older employee is his built relationship with existing customers. The disadvantage of an older employee over a younger employee is his inability to quickly adapt to his changing environment. Younger employees are more “hungry” compared to their older counter parts. Their hunger is fired by their goal to quickly move up the corporate ladder.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 is an act that was passed that clearly states that employers can’t be discriminate against someone based on their age 40 and older. The older adults are trying so hard to hold onto their jobs with dear life, because if not they will be nudged out and pushed aside. Not because of anything but rather because of their age. Age discrimination is on the rise as young as 50 years old. Age discrimination can happen to anyone regardless of your race, ethnic backgrounds or sexual orientation. A study was published in the Journal of Age Ageing and in the report it said that British People 50 years old and older faces discrimination about one third of them. In a resent survey older adults says job insecurity
...er Workers”, by Stephen Bastien, hiring older workers can help company maintain a reliable, dedicated workforce and provide a significant cost savings for both the short and long term. Roy’s unique skills are valuable. Many in the company fell he has earned it and this is important.
Recent work by Templer, Armstrong-Stassen and Cattaneo (2010) provided a framework that looks at antecedents of continuing to work after retirement. They found three main factors that affect the decision to continue working. The first and most important factor is the financial motive; evidence for this is well documented (Humphrey et al, 2003; Parkinson, 2002).The second factor mentioned by Templer et al.(2010) is work fulfillment. Both the studies by Humphrey et al (2003)and Parkinson (2002) indicated that the second most important reason to continue to work after retirement was work fulfillment. A third factor was also mentioned by Templer et al. (2010), generativity. Generativity deals with older worker transferring their knowledge and skills to (younger) co-workers. Research shows that transferring knowledge may be important to older workers (Mor-Barak, 1995). Therefore generativity may also be an important reason to continue to work after...
...The importance of the generational mix within an organisation is that it brings about inclusivity and helps generate new innovative ideas that could bring the organisation to its sustained competitive advantage. With each age group with its expectations by interacting with one another, there is knowledge and experience exchange.
middle of paper ... ... With 10 million people in the UK over 65 years old (Parliament Statistics, 2013) and lower birth rates, many industries must adjust to attract more workers for the ageing population in order to limit the negative effects that a change in the labour supply will have on the British economy through lifelong learning schemes. The personal and health benefits of lifelong learning for an ageing population are also substantial as it increases memory and helps to slow down the physical development of Alzheimer's disease (Hildebrand,2008 as cited by Laal and Salamati 2011) which has been made possible through the European Unions Lifelong Learning Programme and the Grundtvig programme (The European Older People's Platform) which integrates older migrants into the work force as well as within the UK which helps economic and social growth.
As some employees would not want to work with others, this will result in deficiency of work flow in general and will create a lot of tension and negative work environment between co-workers. For instance, an employer might hire an eighteen years old applicant having good experiences and the right qualifications for the job, but they are premature and incompetent of managing older staff. On the other hand, an employer could not consider anyone over fifty years old because they would think they are incapable of learning new technology and quicker techniques for