Age Discrimination is Now the Top Form of Discrimination in the Workplace
Jul 15, 2008
As more and more older workers choose to remain in the workforce rather than retire, the incidences of age discrimination have increased to the point that age bias is now the number one form of discrimination in the workplace.
Adecco USA’s latest Workplace Insights survey, which examines what American workers think about workplace diversity, found that although most workers (61 percent of those surveyed) feel that diversity in their workforce makes their company more successful, nearly half of all employees surveyed (47 percent) experienced some type of discrimination at the office and named age discrimination as the top form (52 percent) of workplace discrimination. Gender discrimination (43 percent) was the second most prevalent form of workplace discrimination, followed by race (32 percent), religion (9 percent), and disability discrimination (7 percent).
Besides citing age discrimination as the leading form of discrimination, most workers (60 percent) reported that a diverse workforce was a top priority for their employers, but only 34 percent of workers surveyed actually believe that US corporations have actually achieved complete workforce diversity. This despite the fact the majority of workers surveyed believe not only that a diverse workforce makes their organization more successful, but 53 percent of respondents also believe that they would become a more productive worker as their company became more diverse.
Though disturbing, the fact that age discrimination has become the top form of workplace discrimination is not all that surprising, particularly with the number of older workers currently in the workforce. As an increasing number of older workers remain in the workforce beyond the traditional age of retirement, I expect that age discrimination will remain the leading form of workplace discrimination, and will quite possibly increase over the next decade.
With respect to the low number or workers (34 percent) that believe that workplace diversity has been completed, that is a fact; complete workplace diversity has not been achieved, and we are far from it. The main reason why workplace diversity has not yet been achieved in the US is because companies aren’t necessarily practicing what they preach. If 60 percent of respondents said that diversity was a top priority for their employer, if they were actually practicing what they preach, more workers surveyed would actually believe that workforce diversity was near completion.
But we all know that is not so, and the Adecco USA survey confirms the notion. Seventy-eight percent of workers surveyed believe that having a diverse workforce is something that most companies publicize more than they actually implement. The question then is, why are so many American workers so skeptical about their company’s diversity and inclusion initiatives?
If the results of this survey are representative of the overall trend, then my answer is quite simple. Workplace diversity, though much more prevalent in today’s workplaces than it was fifty years ago, is to some companies still somewhat of a PR stunt than a sincere effort. These companies may choose to ignore the wealth of evidence that indicates that workplace diversity (when implemented correctly) offers a clear competitive advantage. But in the long run, companies that talk the workplace diversity talk but don’t walk the workplace diversity walk will be well behind those that do, if they even still exist.
Adecco USA’s latest Workplace Insights survey, which examines what American workers think about workplace diversity, found that although most workers (61 percent of those surveyed) feel that diversity in their workforce makes their company more successful, nearly half of all employees surveyed (47 percent) experienced some type of discrimination at the office and named age discrimination as the top form (52 percent) of workplace discrimination. Gender discrimination (43 percent) was the second most prevalent form of workplace discrimination, followed by race (32 percent), religion (9 percent), and disability discrimination (7 percent).
Besides citing age discrimination as the leading form of discrimination, most workers (60 percent) reported that a diverse workforce was a top priority for their employers, but only 34 percent of workers surveyed actually believe that US corporations have actually achieved complete workforce diversity. This despite the fact the majority of workers surveyed believe not only that a diverse workforce makes their organization more successful, but 53 percent of respondents also believe that they would become a more productive worker as their company became more diverse.
Though disturbing, the fact that age discrimination has become the top form of workplace discrimination is not all that surprising, particularly with the number of older workers currently in the workforce. As an increasing number of older workers remain in the workforce beyond the traditional age of retirement, I expect that age discrimination will remain the leading form of workplace discrimination, and will quite possibly increase over the next decade.
With respect to the low number or workers (34 percent) that believe that workplace diversity has been completed, that is a fact; complete workplace diversity has not been achieved, and we are far from it. The main reason why workplace diversity has not yet been achieved in the US is because companies aren’t necessarily practicing what they preach. If 60 percent of respondents said that diversity was a top priority for their employer, if they were actually practicing what they preach, more workers surveyed would actually believe that workforce diversity was near completion.
But we all know that is not so, and the Adecco USA survey confirms the notion. Seventy-eight percent of workers surveyed believe that having a diverse workforce is something that most companies publicize more than they actually implement. The question then is, why are so many American workers so skeptical about their company’s diversity and inclusion initiatives?
If the results of this survey are representative of the overall trend, then my answer is quite simple. Workplace diversity, though much more prevalent in today’s workplaces than it was fifty years ago, is to some companies still somewhat of a PR stunt than a sincere effort. These companies may choose to ignore the wealth of evidence that indicates that workplace diversity (when implemented correctly) offers a clear competitive advantage. But in the long run, companies that talk the workplace diversity talk but don’t walk the workplace diversity walk will be well behind those that do, if they even still exist.
