The uncomfortable truth of ageism at work

I recently took part in a Parliamentary session on age diversity at work. It was a powerful and uncomfortable reminder that ageism remains one of the most widespread yet least acknowledged biases in the labour market.

Despite the over-50s already making up a third of the UK workforce and representing the fastest-growing group, many are being systematically filtered out of recruitment processes, often long before interview stage.

The data is stark: large numbers feel disadvantaged in hiring, unemployment lasts longer, and economic inactivity among 50–64-year-olds continues to rise. All against a backdrop of organisations facing acute skills shortages and demographic change.

This is not just a moral issue, but a strategic and economic one. Experience, judgement and people skills improve with age, yet outdated hiring systems, over-reliance on CVs, and unchallenged assumptions continue to waste talent. If we are serious about productivity, workforce planning and truly multigenerational workplaces, age-inclusive hiring can no longer be treated as a “future problem” – it demands action now.

Challenging the narrative of decline

To effect change we need to challenge the narrative of decline around future skills and building a strong workforce. Recent employment surveys and studies indicate that businesses often hire for youth, rather than for the skills they actually need. As a result, they overlook a vast amount of available talent.

There is no denying that we all change with age. But change doesn’t necessarily mean decline. Two good examples illustrate this clearly.

Increasing resilience

The first is emotional regulation and people skills, which tend to improve with age. As we grow older, we become better able to deal with stressful situations, manage conflict, remain calm when times are difficult, and support others when things are challenging.

This is linked to adult development, as well as repeated exposure to complex situations over time. In other words, we are often better prepared because we have been there before. There are many roles across industries that benefit from these capabilities.

Shifting skills

Another area that is often overlooked, but also improves with age, is situational judgement and complex problem-solving. In contrast, fluid intelligence – things like speed of processing and rapid recall – tend to decline from early adulthood.

But crystallised intelligence, which is built through experience, may continue to grow. Tasks that rely primarily on speed and rapid processing can increasingly be supported by technology, AI, and other tools. Putting pieces together, understanding the bigger picture, and making sense of complex systems are less easily replicated and draw heavily on experience.

Cognitive psychology and neuroscience point to mechanisms such as neuroplasticity and the development of mental models and schemas, which allow us to map situations and experiences more effectively as we accumulate them over time. This is a critical capability in today’s complex work environments.

These are just two examples that directly contradict the narrative of decline but are often imposed on workers. My research on the menopause is another example of how many women leave work partly because of unfounded or outdated assumptions.

The impact of stereotypes

Closely connected to this is the issue of stereotypes. As well as distorting hiring decisions and the way managers design systems and processes they can also affect candidates themselves.

When society repeatedly reinforces a narrative of decline and places a disproportionate value on youth, individuals respond to that message.

People may look at a job advert asking for someone “energetic” or “enthusiastic” and self-select out, assuming it is not for them. The same applies to training opportunities, sideways moves, and access to education.

People often rationalise these decisions as personal choice, when in reality they are responding to a pervasive stereotype. This creates a clear responsibility for all of us to challenge age stereotypes, choose our language carefully, and actively encourage others not to be guided by simplistic views of ageing.

The positivity of a pivot

Reaching midlife can also bring a period of self-reflection and career reorientation. Whilst not everyone, many people experience a change in priorities or a shift in their motivations, looking for new or different ways to contribute. However, we still tend to think about careers as linear progressions reflected neatly on a CV. With longer working lives, this model simply no longer works.

When people move sideways or reinvent themselves, they bring valuable experience and transferable skills, even if they are new to a specific role. We need to create space for reinvention and remove barriers that prevent people from changing direction.

In my work as an educator, I teach many adult learners in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s. Some come from physically demanding careers and are looking to move into roles where they can leverage their experience in different ways, often into supervisory or managerial positions. When we fail to provide these pathways, we lose valuable talent from the labour market. Apprenticeships and transition programmes are a great way of enabling people to start a second career or reposition themselves.

Encouraging conversation and diversity

To move the narrative on we need more career conversations at work. The issue is not only engrained in external hiring processes, but internal mobility. When organisations create space for open conversations, people are more able to explore internal moves and try new things.

These conversations can be difficult, particularly when age is involved, but they are essential. Often, people need support with the first steps of a sideways move or career change.

Age should not be a barrier to recruitment or indeed dominate the narrative. The focus of hiring and ensuring success should be firmly on team composition regardless of age. There is space in the workforce for people at all life stages. What matters is having teams with sufficient age diversity so that people can see themselves reflected, feel a sense of belonging, and relate to one another as individuals rather than stereotypes. This sense of “we” increases commitment, engagement, and performance.

Age diversity is critical for knowledge sharing. The loss of organisational knowledge is difficult to quantify and often only becomes visible once performance begins to suffer. From a business perspective, age-diverse teams are not just a moral or social argument – they make economic sense. They support sustainable workforce planning and help future-proof organisations and the wider economy.