"Employers have a duty of care to create an environment where workers of all ages and levels feel supported."
- Dan Crook, Protection Sales Director at Canada Life
Of those surveyed (2,000), one in five (18%) employees aged 55 or above have experienced age discrimination at least once in their career. This is a marginal decline compared to 2022 which saw 19% of employees discriminated against as an older worker.
Arguably, these findings have been exasperated by the Cost-of-Living Crisis with nearly half (49%) claiming there aren’t as many career opportunities for older employees in the workplace. Meanwhile, 47% felt there was more pressure to be a high performer, and 31% said there has been an increase in negativity towards older employees. This has led to 26% feeling undervalued by their employer since the Cost-of-Living Crisis began.
Dan Crook, Protection Sales Director at Canada Life, said “older employees are a hugely valuable resource for thousands of employers and it’s deeply concerning that discrimination in the workplace continues to be a real issue – in fact, our findings show that sentiment has barely moved in two years.”
“Not only do older workers continue to face discrimination, they are now also feeling additional forms of pressure, which are having an impact on their working lives,” he added.
Dan believes that no matter the external circumstances, “employers have a duty of care to create an environment where workers of all ages and levels feel supported, empowered to progress and thrive, and most importantly, free from attitudes that are outdated at best or offensive and prejudiced at worst.”
