Those of us who have ever been made redundant at the age of 45 or over will know the situation only too well.
Now Channel 4’s exposé of recruiters discriminating against the over-50s has confirmed what we all suspected – that many recruitment agencies claim to have ‘lost’ CVs of more mature candidates when they’ve actually put them straight in the wastebasket. If any do reach employers, their own managers or directors probably do the same.
The Dispatches documentary (Monday 8th Feb), revealed that around 60% of our workforce is being wasted for this reason, and showed the extent of age discrimination in the application process. The programme showed the frustration of job-seekers, sick of being told time and again that they are ‘too experienced’ or ‘over-qualified’ for the often hundreds of jobs they apply for.
Can it be that many thousands of hard-working, reliable and conscientious employees with a wide range of skills and experience are no longer valued by employers in today’s society just because of their age?
