How Prominent is Ageism in the Workplace?

At times, 2024 has been a tough year. Workers and job candidates alike are weathering a range of issues including economic compression, layoffs, ghosting and return-to-office mandates disguised as soft layoffs. It’s also been challenging for those currently employed. Salary.com found the median salary increase remained at 4% in 2024, but the average increase dropped from 4.3% to 3.9%, according to the annual National Salary Budget Survey.

Age Matters

Getting hired in the most inter-generational workforce of our time is also proving problematic with more job seekers calling out age discrimination. Candidates as young as 40 are questioning if the workplace is as inclusive as we would like to think it is. Older workers who have been laid off or who are looking to get back into the workforce are dealing with strong resistance. A Business Wire article highlighted the range of hiring obstacles older workers face including ageism and age-related microaggressions coming from younger colleagues.

Inclusion or Exclusion

LinkedIn comments show numerous examples of older workers being turned away for having too much experience or the assumption they won’t fit in with younger employees or be comfortable with new technology.

A survey of more than 1,600 Americans conducted by CWI Labs, an organization focused on finding innovative solutions to labor force obstacles, found 81% of older workers believe employers want younger applicants. 59% believe their age is an obstacle in the search for employment despite 92% being interested in learning new professional skills. Almost half (46%) of those surveyed have been searching for a job for at least a year. Only 21% think they’ll land a job in the next six months.

On the flip side, a poll from Intelligent published the same month as the Business Wire article found companies regretted their hire of recent college graduates. Six in 10 fired a recent college grad hired this year and 75% reported that recent graduates were unsatisfactory on the job. Graduates were considered unprepared for the workforce, unable to manage the workload and lacking professionalism.

Other reasons younger new hires didn’t work out included lack of motivation or initiative (50%), poor communication skills (39%), struggles with feedback (38%) and inadequate abilities to solve problems (34%), according to the report.

These surveys and polls illustrate job candidates are experiencing a challenging time on both ends of the spectrum, young and old. Add to this the push-pull of return to the office, rampant layoffs, economic compression and the rise of AI and it’s no wonder most don’t know where they stand nor how to navigate a system that’s becoming increasingly divisive. Here’s hoping 2025 offers more clarity for everyone involved.

This article is brought to you by Staffing Kansas City, a Kansas City employment agency that can help you find the right fit in your next career.