Age-Demographic in the Workforce

The largest generation in the history of the world, Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), began getting their first jobs by the mid-1960s. Today, Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) have overtaken the Baby Boomers and Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) in both living population and in the workforce.

Meanwhile, individuals who belong to Generation Z (born after 1996) are already graduating from college with increased technological savviness and more relevant skill sets, posing a threat to the older workforce.

The Problem for Employers

The problem with the changing age dynamics is that Baby Boomers are not retiring. Simply put, people are working longer than ever before. Over the past 25 years, the share of workers age 55 and older doubled. Over the next six years, it is projected that the oldest segment of the workforce (age 65+) is to increase faster than any other.
There are many reasons for this workforce phenomenon and three are outlined here:.

• The Great Recession of 2007 forced many older workers to revise their retirement plans and work longer to recoup drained retirement accounts and lost savings.
• The Baby Boomer generation has longer life expectancy than previous generations.
• The eligibility for full Social Security benefits starts at later ages and the demise of traditional pension benefits provided by employers has shifted greater responsibility to individuals for their retirement income.

What does this mean for employers? Among other things, it means age discrimination claims will continue to be a worsening problem as more aging workers are working longer. This is particularly true because age discrimination laws protect employees as young as 40 years of age, which is more than half of the American workforce.

Age discrimination claims can be expensive to defend and can last for years.

How Employers Can Avoid Age Discrimination Claims

Here are four actions employers can take to avoid age discrimination claims in a multi-generational workforce.

1. Deploy Different Recruiting Strategies

Employers should avoid advertising positions using qualifications that seek “entry level” or defined years of experience, such as “1-5 years of experience”. Also, advertising job positions on social media and platforms used predominately by younger workers can inadvertently exclude older applicants.

When employers post job advertisements on the Internet, they should include age-diverse photos, graphics, and content that demonstrates a commitment to attracting a multi-generational workforce.

2. Rethink the Approach to Interviewing Applicants

Train interviewers to frame age-neutral questions. Employers should use a standard or structured process that can help avoid inadvertent age bias throughout the interview process.

Also, an age-diverse panel helps because interviewers often identify with job candidates who remind them of themselves.

3. Proactively Increase Age Diversity Among Current Employees

Employers should ensure that “age” is part of inclusion training/programs and promote mixed-age work teams.

4. Develop Effective Retention Strategies

Employers should include career counseling, training and development opportunities, length of service incentives, and mixed-age mentoring.

If as an employer, you are concerned about your current efforts toward including a diverse age workforce, speak with your attorney for appropriate counsel.

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Matthew M. Ries is a business lawyer with Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell. He can be reached at mries@hhmlaw.com or (330) 392-1541.