The adage "Age doesn't matter," may not apply to all situations and certainly not in the workplace as many employees protested against a number of Australian employers who prefer to hire people younger than 40.
From December 2007 to February 2010, there was estimated increase from 3 to 7 percent in the unemployment rate of older workers. It also takes longer time interval for older employees to find a job compared to younger job seekers. A survey in 2011 showed that 55 percent of older employees spent more than 27 weeks to look for a job and get hired. Older workers without jobs stay unemployed for more than 35 weeks compared to 26 weeks for younger people. The result shows that older employees find it harder to get employed compared to younger employees.
Most people who experience 'age discrimination' are those that are 40 years and up. Many of these older employees had been seriously affected due to this act. Recently, a national survey conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission into workplace discrimination discovered that a third percent of those who experience inequality in age chose to be unemployed in the long-run. Susan Ryan, Age and Disability Commissioner stated, "Discrimination of those in their 40s does occur. Although the bulk of discrimination happens in an older age bracket with those who are 50 and over, there are widely held prejudices toward older workers and that's why it takes place."
Studies in the past years showed that one reason that might influence companies to hire younger people than older workers is that younger staffs have lesser chances to acquire health problems. They were also found to be more energetic compared to the old ones, hence are more versatile and create a more relaxing environment to work in. Older employees, compared to younger workers are less knowledgeable when it comes to technology, which gave them lesser edge compare to young professionals.
Though a lot of employers may find younger employees better than older staffs, Ryan believes that they should not be discriminated in any way. 'I think these decisions [not to hire older workers] reflect the employer's that make decisions and their poor understanding of human capacity and human potential," Ryan stated.
