Research suggests age discrimination is rife in recruitment

Posted 31/03/2011

New research has suggested that older people are at risk of being discriminated against when they are applying and being interviewed for jobs.

According to a poll carried out by the Employers Forum on Age, one in three respondents believes they have faced discrimination at this stage because of their age and favouritism towards candidates from within the company.

Those in the north of England were most likely to be affected by this phenomenon, the study discovered.

Denise Keating from the Employers Forum on Age said: “There seems to be a very high instance of people being selected for a new job or promotion if their face fits, which unfortunately means some people feel that talent isn’t enough to overcome prejudices.”

She added that this may mean diversity policies are not getting filtered down to every level of British firms, something that should be addressed by managers.

This comes after Greythorn found that gender-based discrimination is rife in the IT sector.

All aspects of employment – including recruitment – are protected against discrimination and anyone who thinks they have been a victim should seek advice from employment law solicitors such as those at Ashtons Legal.