Wanted: old HR teams to learn new age-neutral tricks

Older workers are frequently discriminated against in job adverts, according to a new report from the Dutch human rights council.

It claims that 40,000 to 60,000 job adverts that it studied discriminated against older people by specifying things like wanting ‘a starter’, ‘a student’, ‘young hound’ or even ‘people from 18 to 35’.

‘Age discrimination is a problem that has a big impact on older people seeking work, and it begins with job adverts,’ it notes.

The organisation looked at 1.8 million recent adverts to investigate the ways older job seekers might be excluded from even applying.

Last year, 60% of the long-term unemployed were over 45. It is, however, illegal for employers to discriminate against people because of their age, directly or indirectly.