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Age Discrimination Kept Workers From Getting Hired During the Pandemic, AARP Finds

Many job seekers were asked birth date or graduation date during hiring process

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​During the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how — and if — many people work. Massive layoffs caused more than 20 million people to lose jobs in April 2020. The sudden shift to remote work forced millions to master videoconferencing for the first time. Now the Great Resignation is leading many people to switch jobs to get better salaries, benefits and personal satisfaction, even enticing many older adults to “unretire.”

One constant throughout the rapid change, however, has been the persistence of age discrimination. According to an AARP Research survey of 2,945 people age 50 and older, 91 percent of respondents said age discrimination against older workers is common in the workplace today.

That discrimination has had an impact on older adults who are either looking for work or trying to succeed in their current jobs. Here are some of the key takeaways from the survey.

One in 6 adults said they weren’t hired for a job because of their age. 

Despite the demand for workers, 15 percent of those surveyed said their age prevented them from getting a job they applied for within the past two years. While it can be difficult to know how employers make their hiring decisions, other responses from the survey suggest that employers are gathering age-related information during the hiring process. Among those recent job seekers, 53 percent said an employer asked them to give their birth date during the application or interview process, and 47 percent were asked their graduation date.

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According to numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), older workers are experiencing longer periods of unemployment than younger adults. In June, roughly 26.5 percent of job seekers age 55 and older had been out of work for 27 weeks or more. Only 19.1 percent of people ages 16 to 54 were unemployed for that same length of time.

“Age bias plays a leading role in the higher levels of long-term unemployment experienced by older job seekers,” says Jennifer Schramm, senior policy advisor at the AARP Public Policy Institute. “Though structural changes that often accompany major economic disruptions can influence the types of jobs lost and, therefore, the age demographics of different types of job seekers, age discrimination continues to be one of the main drivers of higher levels of long-term unemployment after age 50.”

Age bias on the job continues to be common.

Roughly one-third (32 percent) of older adults who currently are working or looking for work said that during the past two years they have heard negative comments in the workplace about an older coworker’s age. Seventeen percent said they personally have experienced negative remarks about their age, and roughly 1 in 10 (13 percent) have been passed up for a promotion due to their age.

Victims of age bias turn to friends and family for support. 

Among those older workers who said they were denied a job during the past two years due to their age, most (37 percent) said they would talk about it with a family member or friend rather than a coworker (16 percent) or supervisor (6 percent). Many respondents said they wouldn’t take any action because they didn’t think it would make a difference.

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Victims of age bias often are told to express their concerns with their supervisors first. The survey responses suggest that many do not believe doing so would address their concerns.

Many people want stronger age discrimination laws. 

Nearly 9 in 10 adults age 50 and up said that older Americans should be protected from age discrimination. Roughly the same number (92 percent) said they support efforts to strengthen age discrimination laws.

The survey interviews were conducted online and by phone March 24–28, April 22–26 and May 19–23, 2022, among 2,945 U.S. adults age 50-plus including 1,340 who were either working or looking for work. The survey used the Foresight 50+ Omnibus by NORC at the University of Chicago to select participants. All data is weighted by age, sex, education, race/ethnicity, region and AARP membership.

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