Ageism, sexism and racism still rife in labor market

By Alice Clifford via SWNS

Ageism, sexism and racism are still rife in the jobs market, a new study reveals.

Younger white British men are significantly more likely to be offered a job interview and higher paying salaries.

This demographic was 16 percent more likely to get an interview than an older white British man and 18 percent more likely to reach the interview stage than an older white British woman.

Young white men were also 22 percent more likely to get an interview than an older Black British man, and 29 percent more likely than an older Black British woman.

In terms of salary, older white British men were offered interviews for jobs with an 11.5 percent lower annual salary on average than younger white British men.

This figure was 12 percent lower for older white British women and 13 percent lower for older Black British males.

Older Black British women were offered interviews for jobs where the salary was 15 percent lower than young white British men.

The researchers conducted four simultaneous experiments where online job applications from fictitious candidates were sent for real UK job vacancies in sales, restaurants and cafes.

In each experiment they sent job applications from a 28-year-old white British man and someone from a different demographic for a variety of jobs.

In experiment one they sent applications in from a 50-year-old white British man and in the second they applied as a 50-year-old white British woman

The third experiment saw a 50-year-old Black British man applying and in the fourth they used the character of a 50-year-old black British woman.

Each application matched with the application of the 28-year-old white man to show that their personal attributes were considered in the process as well as their professional ones.

In total there were 190 pairs of matched applications in experiment one, 221 pairs in experiment two, 184 pairs in experiment three and 209 pairs in experiment four.

Each application consisted of an email, a CV and an application letter.

All CVs contained information about applicants’ demographic characteristics and work experience.

They included the applicants’ year of birth, gender, ethnicity and marital status, which was married with one child.

They also closely matched previous employment and education, with each candidate completing school to Year 11.

Each candidate also had the same hobbies, these being sports and cinema.

The authors from Anglia Ruskin University said: “These results suggest that older people might have to spend more time, effort and resources than younger people to obtain an interview for a lower-paid vacancy, despite often having many years of experience in the workplace behind them.

“The UK has an ageing population and the retirement age is increasing. An active older population enjoying equal treatment in the job market will be better able to contribute to growth and the economy.”

The study is the first to compare access to vacancies and wage sorting between older and younger workers, cross-comparing with gender and race.

It was published in the journal Employee Relations.