Let us look at a survey released in the previous year that the tech firm had laid off more than 20,000 employees above the age of forty in the last six years. Although IBM disputes the payments, arguing that its recruiting and retention program is focused on skills rather than age, the applicants claim that this is part of a deliberate effort to reduce the age of the workforce. Rather than being an unusual occurrence, this appears to suggest a larger issue in the technology industry, which is now perceived to be the realm of young men.
This mood was mirrored in the 2017 survey, which showed that 43 per cent of tech employees were afraid of losing their jobs due to their age. On top of that, tech firms are disproportionately preferring young applicants while interviewing for new jobs.
Although the electronics sector is perhaps the most influential example, age discrimination is a matter for other sectors as well. This is compounded by the essence of contemporary work, marked by continuous transition, confusion and the ever-increasing role of technology. Employees who have spent decades in the industry have undergone an enormous transition. It’s a struggle to keep up with the speed of this transition when skills that were once vital quickly become old.
Research demonstrates that age diversity in the workplace can enhance organizational efficiency. Studies further find that productivity is greater in both older and younger employees in businesses with mixed-age work teams. And age diversity within work teams is strongly connected to success, as individuals are engaged in dynamic decision-making activities. Less workforce turnover is one of the main advantages of increased efficiency and productivity. It has also been documented that employers who are 55 years of age and older will lead to lower turnover, as they are committed workers and normally stay longer in their employment than younger employees. Employers have lower turnover rates and more professional, seasoned workers. Age variation in the workplace gives rise to diverse experiences, aspirations, styles and viewpoints. All these disparities will become a source of power and creativity if they are handled and treated in the right manner. Bottom line is that most diverse companies are typically the most creative ones.
The advantages of age diversity
Younger generations can have an edge when it comes to technical fluidity and the new developments, but older generations have a head start in other ways. Attributes such as teamwork, critical analysis, business experience, social intelligence and soft skills will take decades to build and they will be widely sought-after skills in the future of employment.
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To create a workforce that can satisfy the broad range of company needs, you need employees of all ages and at all levels of their careers. As workers mature, it is only normal that the type of job they do can change. This may involve coming back from the front line and using their skills and expertise to become presidents, strategists and advisors. Companies who struggle to recognize the advantages of age diversity risk having a workforce lacking expertise and leadership.
Why inclusion matters?
The IBM situation is in stark contrast to the National Inclusion Week, which began in the United Kingdom on Monday with the goal of increasing consciousness about inclusion at work.
Inclusion is defined as the act of adding or including it. In the office, this means an atmosphere where everybody is accepted, regardless of age, race, gender, sexuality, history, etc. These considerations clearly do not come into play in an egalitarian workplace when evaluating someone’s suitability for a job. While inclusion is essentially a human problem, it is also advantageous to the company. The natural outcome of incorporation is a dynamic workforce, where people of all ages, stages and cultures come together to exchange thoughts, knowledge and experience. This inherently makes diverse teams more informed, imaginative and dynamic than homogeneous ones.
This is imitated in McKinsey’s latest Diversity Matters study, which finds that diverse teams are more likely to deliver above-average financial returns. The positive influence on businesses applies to an individual level, with 87 per cent of respondents to the survey claiming that diversity may or may not have a positive impact on results.
If a business or sector favours one form of a person above the others, it shuts the door to a world of alternate views and experiences. Just when young employees add those attributes to the table, so do the aged. The secret to a good workplace is to leverage the best characteristics of a diverse array of individuals, to build a team rich in expertise, knowledge and experience.
