Employee motivation: Expert doubts older staff are discriminated against once in their job

Date: 11/05/2011

Employee motivation can be dampened by age discrimination in the workplace, but an expert has said that there is less likely to be discrimination once staff are in the workplace.

According to Mike Emmott, public policy advisor at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), if someone is applying for a job at the age of 62, they are likely to find that employers don't take them seriously.

Mr Emmott said that this was probably due to the employer imagining that they don't have much time left to give.

"So there is that kind of discrimination, but a 65-year-old worker who has been in the same job in the same organisation for the last ten or twenty years, does he or she face discrimination? I doubt it.

"There may be a slight tendency to assume [that] they don't want more training.

"I'm not suggesting that older workers are treated in exactly the same way, but I think the word 'discrimination' is far too strong," he said.

Recently, Rachel Krys, director of Inclusive Employers, said that a mix of fresh-faced young staff and experienced old-hands make the best workforces and produce the best employee performance.

Posted by Jo Morgan 

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