Ageism in the workplace is proving costly for business

The last few years have brought huge changes to the world of work. Working from home and greater flexibility around when and where people do their jobs have transformed working life in a largely positive way. Yet when it comes to certain assumptions about work, nothing has changed.

Top of the list is the notion that performance and productivity are related to age and that once someone hits a certain tally, their brain turns to mush. In fact, there’s a mountain of evidence to suggest otherwise. For instance, research from the British Medical Association shows that only 5 per cent of people over the age of 65 show signs of cognitive impairment.

That said, ageism persists in a classic clash between assumption and reality, and those doing the hiring and firing need to wise up.

Skills and experience count. So too do better retention rates among older staff who are not driven by the same career imperatives as younger people. And yes, older workers are perfectly capable of learning new things and adapting to change.

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It’s also worth noting that age should not be a barrier to starting a business. Entrepreneurs over 40 are more likely to succeed than younger ones because they have better-developed life skills and don’t feel the same pressure to succeed fast to prove themselves.

But if we’re really getting down and dirty about age, anyone born after 1993 should be worried as, “for most people, raw mental horsepower declines after the age of 30”, note HR expert Josh Bersin and psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic writing in the Harvard Business Review.

The good news for those of us who last saw the number 30 on a bus is that “knowledge and expertise – the main predictors of job performance – keep increasing even beyond the age of 80”, the authors say.

“There is also ample evidence to assume that traits like drive and curiosity are catalysts for new skill acquisition, even during late adulthood. When it comes to learning new things, there is just no age limit, and the more intellectually engaged people remain when they are older, the more they will contribute to the labour market.”

Colette Dicker works for multinational pharmaceuticals company, Takeda, which employs roughly 1,000 people across multiple sites in Ireland. Dicker has been with the company for 19 years and had spent most of that time in packaging before a lab apprenticeship programme advertised by her employer caught her attention.

Dicker hadn’t been to college before and, as she was on the wrong side of 40, she didn’t think she would be accepted onto the programme. In fact, Takeda HR site lead Catherine Lane is very keen to support older workers interested in a career change or pivot and Dicker was interviewed and offered a place on the course. She subsequently spent three years at TU Dublin to earn a degree and now works as a quality control analyst in the Takeda lab (with a commensurate rise in salary) while also acting as a mentor to colleagues currently on the apprenticeship.

“For us, the apprenticeship was an opportunity to tap into the diversity outside the graduate space,” Lane says. “There’s certainly an attraction to “learn while you earn” and it’s an opportunity for mature workers who didn’t go to third-level or didn’t finish their course for some reason to advance their careers and earning power within the company.

“We encourage people to move within Takeda and around 22 per cent of our hires are internal which is quite high.”

Those on the apprenticeship course spend two days a week in college and three days at work. Lane says this means they integrate into their new role quickly and are more job-ready than graduates coming in from outside.

The apprenticeship programme kicked off in 2018 with the first cohort graduating in 2021. Takeda has put eight employees through the programme so far and seven are still with the company, something Lane sees as a big plus given the difficulties experienced in retaining staff, with young graduates in particular, wanting to move on to gain experience.

“It’s important to have stability but that’s easier said than done in a sector where we’re all fighting for the same people,” she says adding that one of the other ways Takeda tries to maintain continuity is by flagging what skills are required for different roles within the business in an effort to encourage employees to think about upskilling and maybe changing job.

Dicker says the return to education was a culture shock initially but she and a Takeda colleague quickly settled into the routine.

“It took a bit of time to get used to doing maths and science again but the pharma side of the course was easier because of my work experience. By the end of the first term, you are well into the swing of things at college and in the lab and you’re quickly accepted there because you’ve come from within the company,” Dicker says.

“I would recommend others to seize opportunities when they come their way. Go for it, take it on, do what you can for yourself,” she adds. “I felt it was a super achievement for me and something I never really thought I would do in my life. I was encouraged big time at home with my family and by Takeda. It was amazing that people were so keen to see us succeed.”