Hi Readers, systematic ageism and age
discrimination remain in the workplace despite laws against it. If a company
fails to hire an older employee, it is their loss. Research studies show that
older workers are valuable assets and outpace and outperform their younger
cohorts. The articles below have been taken verbatim from the sources and
provide some stark reminders that corporate culture weeds out older employees.
More on this topic later. AgeDoc
IBM executives called older workers 'dinobabies' who should be
'extinct' in internal emails released in age discrimination lawsuit
Hannah Towey,
Business Week, 2/13/22
“Internal emails show
IBM executives calling older workers "dinobabies" and discussing
plans to make them "an extinct species," according to a Friday filing in
an ongoing age discrimination lawsuit against the company.”
“The
documents were submitted as evidence of IBM's efforts "to oust older
employees from its workforce," and replace them with millennial workers,
the plaintiff alleged. It's the latest development in a legal battle that first
began in 2018, when former employees sued IBM after the company fired tens of thousands of workers over 40-years-old.”
“One
high-ranking executive, whose name was redacted from the lawsuit, said IBM had
a dated maternal workforce."
"This is
what must change," the email continues, per the filing. "They really
don't understand social or engagement. Not digital natives. A real threat for
us."
The exchanges
are "highly incriminating" and "reflects age animus from IBM's
highest ranks," plaintiff Shannon Liss-Riordan wrote. Liss-Riordan is a
well-known employment lawyer who has represented workers in cases against
Google, Amazon, and Uber.
IBM spokesman
Chris Mumma told Insider that the company has "never engaged in systemic
age discrimination," and said "IBM separated employees because of
changing business conditions, not because of their age." In 2020, the
median age of IBM's US workforce was 48, the same as it was ten years prior, he
added.
"Some
language in emails between former IBM executives that has been reported is not
consistent with the respect IBM has for its employees," IBM shared in a
statement.
Readers, the sections below have been
excerpted from the AARP website and provide examples of age discrimination and
ageism in the workplace.
“AARP is strongly committed
to protecting older workers from age-related bias and pushing for stronger laws
and policies that guard your rights. And we offer lots of programs to support
people fighting discrimination or trying to stay in the workplace after age 50.
Here’s some of what we do — and some links you can use to get help.”
“If
you haven’t felt the pinch of ageism yet, trust us, you will. If you apply for
a job online, there’s a good chance that a screening algorithm will
automatically disqualify you because of your age. If you’re an older employee,
it’s likely you’ll bear your share of age-related comments and jokes. And if
you’re gunning for a promotion or heading into a job interview, you may feel
compelled to touch up the gray, dress a bit younger and act like technology is
your best friend.”
“What
immediately became apparent in my reporting is that, like other biases and
discriminatory practices, ageism takes many forms. In the workplace, we found
illegal age discrimination in three main areas:
1. Recruitment
and hiring, when younger applicants are shown favor simply because of their
age.
2. On-the-job
bias, when older workers receive fewer training opportunities, promotions and
rewards, or are harassed.
3. Termination,
when a company “freshens” its workforce or trims budget by targeting senior
employees for layoffs or encouraging them to retire.”
“Paul
Rupert, of Respectful Exits, suggests — persuasively — that the problem
emanates from our free-enterprise roots. The predominant business model in this
country is still an industrial one where companies view employees as “human capital,”
he says. “It’s a sad phrase, but companies view their workforce the same way
they view their capital equipment. You buy it, you assume it has a certain
shelf life, and then you get rid of it and replace it with a new model.”
Stories
like these are typical: “I became aware of ageism when it happened to a
couple of people I cared about,” says Patti Temple Rocks, who has spent 38
years in communications and is the author of I’m Not Done: It’s Time to
Talk About Ageism in the Workplace. “My first reaction was, I’m
not going to let this happen to me. I’m going to be completely in touch with
when I’m no longer relevant. I read everything I could about reinventing
myself. But when it did happen, I realized everything I had been thinking was
wrong. I was still on my game, but I was being moved into a nonessential role
to make room for someone younger. I wasn’t ready for my second act because I
was still well into my first.”
“An
engineering executive in his late 50s, who asked to remain anonymous, describes
his experience. “I would get calls, the phone screens would go really well, but
then when I went for interviews — sometimes flown in by corporate jet — I’d
never hear back or be told someone else got the job. Eventually, I realized
what they were thinking when I walked in: This guy isn’t a spring chicken.”
“These
tales are as easy to find as, well, spring chickens. Between 1997 and 2018,
approximately 423,000 U.S. workers filed age discrimination claims with the
EEOC. That’s roughly 19,200 per year and 22 percent of all workplace
discrimination claims. But here’s something important to keep in mind: An AARP
survey found that only 3 percent of older employees have ever made a formal
complaint of age discrimination to a government agency or someone in the
workplace, which means there are probably hundreds of thousands more who simply
accept the job rejections, shrug off the denials for promotion, withstand the
workplace harassment or take the offer of early retirement.”
The
EEOC says there is “vast underreporting of the problem,” but there is an
equally big issue: the EEOC itself. Understaffed and charged with battling
discrimination of all types, the agency has simply been unable to take up its
cudgel to fight hard for older workers.”
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