A recent report from Legal and General Retail Retirement (LGRR) and the Centre for Economics and Business Research has found that 2.99 million job seekers over the age of 50 (52%), who have searched for work in the past five years believe their age made employers less likely to hire them.

What did the report say?

The Working Late: Over 50s and Employment report found that general perceptions which have inhibited job searches by the over 50s, are that they are

• too ‘overqualified’,

• too close to ‘retirement age’ or

• more expensive to hire.

Looking at the specific findings, 46% of job seekers aged 50 – 59, and 64% of job seekers aged 60 – 69 felt their age put them at a significant disadvantage during recruitment. Possible reasons were cited by 37% responders as being overqualified for the identified jobs, 35% believing their skills did not meet the standards required in today’s workplace and 33% encountered unsuitable hours and a lack of flexibility in location or working hours. Over 50s seeking employment also found poor health (17%) and caring responsibilities (9%) seriously affected their job search.

Age discrimination concerns

The report said that over 50s were asked to explain the circumstances where they believed they were affected by age discrimination. Common themes included interview rejections (including a lack of invites to interviews in the first place).

Actual or perceived closeness to retirement was believed to be a reason for the lack of hire, as well as an actual or perceived generational skills gap. In comparison, less frequent themes identified were job offers having implicit or explicit age restriction biases towards younger workers and the perception that businesses having the ability to hire younger workers more cheaply.