Ageism – the Ugly Hidden Cousin of Prejudice
Imagine a world where nobody over the age of 50 works. Alternatively, just take a look around. According to a recent report in The Times, more than 107,000 over 50s were made redundant in the two months between November 2020 and January 2021. This figure will only multiply when the last of the Chancellor’s furlough packages expire. All sectors of the workforce suffered during lockdown, but for the over 50s, redundancies soared by almost 200%. 50 has become the new 70.
It used to be a source of amusement that in certain European countries, ordinary citizens cheerfully payed as little tax as possible and still expected to retire at 50 supported by the benevolent state. The financial crisis of 2008 and subsequent bailout conditions derailed that particular gravy train amid outraged protests. Then, several years later, our own Government decreed that official retirement ages were being pushed back. Not as vocal as some, most of us grumbled quietly but assumed we would continue to enjoy steady employment until such day that B&Q opened its arms to those of us who had failed to save for a decent pension. In 2021 that seems an innocent assumption. The world has changed so dramatically in the last year that we are contemplating a future where many of the over 50’s will struggle to manage living expenses, let alone indulge retirement fantasies.
But in the scramble to cut costs, chucking the middle-aged under a bus may yet prove to be a false economy for businesses. Any employer will readily testify to the huge costs – known as the burden rate - of hiring, training and then replacing staff; twice the salary cost is typical. The reality is that older people change jobs far less frequently than the young, a trend which both preserves knowledge and reduces long term costs. The temptation to slash the wage bill by hiring cheaper, younger candidates is only a short-term fix – a buy now, pay later employment strategy.
This isn’t at all where I expected to be
In every general trend are a multitude of personal stories and mine is typical. As a 55 year old writer I have been dancing to the familiar beat of feast and famine for most of my career. This came to an abrupt halt in March 2020 when my big earners disappeared overnight. Writing the show guides for Strictly Come Dancing – the Live Tour and BBC Countryfile Live were fantastic jobs connected to super-spreader events that rightly had to be stopped. I wasn’t the only person to find myself in such a position. The entire live events industry was moth-balled overnight.
I consoled myself with the prospect of permanent employment. With a number of published books under my belt and three decades’ experience of writing across a multitude of platforms, as well as mentoring, teaching and running workshops for the Royal Literary Fund, there was bound to be a place for me somewhere. So I thought. One year later I’m still looking and even entry level positions are elusive. And I get it. Why employ a 55 year old woman who probably knows more than their employer, expects a fair salary and prefers to keep regular hours when there are box-fresh 25 year olds willing to work 14 hour days for minimum wage?
“...for all our obsession with diversity and inclusivity, ‘No such privilege is conferred on older people...’”
Ageism is not new, it has been creeping stealthily for decades, particularly in Western cultures. The redoubtable journalist Richard Ingrams, now 83, is the former editor of Private Eye and The Oldie. A controversial figure, his own career was built on taking outrageous risks and not being afraid to expose and lampoon the rich and powerful. He often relied on the knowledge of older journalists who knew where the bodies were buried.
But in his mid-50s he noticed a craven conservatism creeping into print media, led in large part by advertisers. ‘They know the oldies are too canny to buy their rubbish, so they target the young,’ he says.
And such is the power of advertisers that where they lead, editorial must follow. ‘I remember working on the Observer in the 1990s when somebody commented that apart from me, there wasn’t a single person on the staff who remembered Watergate. I thought that was shocking, especially as it had happened only twenty years before. There are fewer and fewer commentators who have the depth of knowledge necessary to write pieces that have context or even a grasp of recent history.’
‘It would have been particularly useful for journalists to have had a handle on Watergate during Trump’s term in office because the parallels were striking. But most didn’t have the lived experience to make pertinent comparisons.’
Ingrams thinks that for all our obsession with diversity and inclusivity, ‘No such privilege is conferred on older people. Labour bangs on about wanting equal numbers of male and female MP’s but no mandates are extended to age.’ It is worth noting that Ingrams’ tenure at the Oldie ended, not due to his advanced years, but for his refusal to appear at a disciplinary hearing. To his great amusement, he was summarily sacked for failing to show up.
Both ends are being squeezed.
But it would be false to paint a picture of the young scooping all the prizes in life, because while the over 50s are being cast aside, the number of young people out of work in the UK has reached new heights since the pandemic. Nearly two thirds of the 700,000 newly unemployed are under 25 years old. This is obviously concerning as the young are our legacy, the engine of the future that has stalled. In the current climate with employers feeling skittish and risk averse, even those hiring will be keeping new recruits on a tight leash. Those young people lucky enough to get a foothold in the labour market may find it hard to do what the young are good at doing - innovate.
Fourth Year Medical Student Habeeb Kamal, last year won a place on the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, becoming one of the youngest ever on the programme. A precocious talent, Habeeb did this while studying for a Masters’ degree and simultaneously creating a novel prognostic model for cardiovascular disease. Using a large data set to test his model, the results were stunning and achieved over 79% accuracy, significantly more accurate than the current model. The ramifications for considerably impacting some of the key problems caused by COVID-19 for the NHS are significant. Despite this, progress with moving his project forward has been difficult. Admittedly, the criteria for launching statistical models in the medical field has to be stringent to meet regulatory criteria before being taken up by the system and for him, it may require substantial support from more established and decorated medics in order to get there, support that the CEP will be able to help with.
“The cult of individualism has raged since Mrs Thatcher came to power and grandly announced, ‘There is no such thing as society,’”
The problem is wider and deeper
But for all age-groups there is a bigger but quieter problem which lurks beneath. Our current difficulties wouldn’t have quite the same bite if we hadn’t been raised to believe that it was our efforts alone which secured our success. The cult of individualism which has raged since Mrs Thatcher came to power and grandly announced, ‘There is no such thing as society,’ has opened doors for some but left many of us feeling vulnerable and exposed. Mrs Thatcher’s dictum and the sweeping cultural and economic changes which came in its wake eclipsed traditional notions of community and collaboration which lent a degree of security to our lives.
Working together for the common good sounds rather quaint, like something a 1970’s Socialist might say. But forced as we are to rely purely on our own resources, a quiet, insistent fear that we may soon lose it all has become the backdrop to our lives, a constant chewing at the vitality of our self-belief. There are very few jobs for life and even the very successful know their security is tenuous and transient. Covid merely added velocity to the trend.
So, what now?
There may be an alternative. A unification and pooling of talents would take us beyond the fear of fighting for survival on our own and bring some reassuring herd immunity. The young have energy, daring and innovation, the over-40s have seen it all and can make fairly astute judgements about those ventures likely to thrive or die. For a long time now, many of us have been dissatisfied with an economic model which pitched us against each other just so we could buy more stuff. The last year has only added new impetus to the need to find alternatives.
As the economy emerges from lockdown, we have a rare opportunity to make different choices. We can go back to fighting for an ever-shrinking pool of scraps to clutch greedily to our chests, or use this unique moment in time to re-think our modus operandi. Instead of competitors for scarce resources, might we be allies in the fight for survival? I need you, you need me isn’t new, but 2021 extends the notion beyond the personal into a broader economic and social context.
A fledgling idea known as the Network Effect is gaining traction. Essentially a 21st Century barter system, it proposes that we piggy-back onto each other’s ventures and services. A kind of I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine brought out of the closet. Professional collaboration carries the potential to reduce risk, engender fellowship and support mutual profitability. The switch from mine to ours is a radical paradigm shift, but one which carries the seed of a more hopeful, secure life. Open the door and welcome the ugly cousin into the home office.
Steven identifies three themes to consider
Many of us consider ourselves to be open minded, accepting and supportive – embracing diversity in work and friends. How many of your team are not like you – age, gender, culture? Does the reality live up to the perception?
What are your prejudices – can you identify three and work out what drives those beliefs? Really think about what you take for granted.
How can you actively embrace age diversity in your work? What is one thing you could add to your work routine – recruitment, mentorship (receiving or giving) or coaching (receiving or giving).
Next up: The Network Effect – how we can make it work in a post-Covid world.