The 18th of October was World Menopause Day. As an organisation that has always had a strong focus on the older generations, it is a regular topic of discussion with our Champion partners. In recent years we have seen a rise in the term "older woman" and not in a flattering way. Days like World Menopause Day are important in highlighting the struggles women go through as they get older and ensuring that women realise, they aren't alone. Organisations such as ourselves need to highlight the importance of the "older woman" in the workplace and how their treatment should not be any different. To summarise, menopause is a period in a woman's life where she experiences a massive change in hormone levels. Alongside many physical symptoms, it can also take a massive toll on mental health with changes to mood and increased anxiety. While women will need support outside of [...]

At the Age Diversity Forum, we have previously emphasised the benefits of legislation compliance when considering a more age-diverse workforce. Age is a legally protected characteristic under the 2010 Equality Act. Complying with the act would reduce reputational risk and the risk of high costs following any legal proceedings. We have covered cases before such as Superdry and Eli Lilly but we are now focusing on a very recent case: PetroTrace. PetroTrace has recently had to pay more than £340,000 to an employee after losing an age discrimination case. Cyril Gregory, a scientist at the company, was 62 years old and had been dismissed in late 2021. During the tribunal, it was brought to attention that managers had discussed his age stating they wanted to hire "more active staff" and that he was "expensive". These managers claimed they raised disciplinary issues, but Gregory had none on record. Furthermore, a conversation [...]

Previously we have discussed the way the media portrays the younger workforce (in particular Gen Z). This is often in a way that makes them seem difficult to work with, self-absorbed and lazy. The media plays a huge factor in the generational divides that are so common in the workplace. It creates misconceptions and stereotypes - dissuading different groups from communicating and truly understanding and respecting each other. This increases conflict and leads to a higher likelihood of ageism and a less productive workforce. However, whilst we have previously focused on younger generations, the media also has a habit of portraying older generations in an unflattering light. In particular, those over 50. In the harshest headlines, those in the cohort are described as burdens, often suffering ill-health or incompetent in the modern world. All completely false and broad stereotypes which lead to employers becoming increasingly hesitant to employ them. This [...]

Language is very complex. It changes frequently, particularly with generations as they are exposed to different experiences. The biggest change in language can be seen through Gen Z. The exposure to the internet and the easy access it gives to communicate with different people has meant that the way Gen Z uses language is very different to previous generations. It also creates words that can slowly lose their meaning due to the barrier of communication between Gen Z and other generations like Gen X and Baby Boomers. A simple way to see this follows the trend of Gen Z's rising concern for social issues like equality and environmental issues such as climate change. This created a "woke" culture. Woke means to be aware of and actively attentive to important social issues like injustice. However, in very recent times, it has become a blanket term for a wider set of social [...]

Gen Z is the generation born between 1997 and 2012. They have been shaped by the digital age, rising concerns over climate change, a tricky financial landscape and the pandemic. The internet and technology have had a massive impact on their lives and so the way they view the world and interact with it, differs significantly from previous generations. However, it could be argued that much of the media coverage of Gen Z does not put it in a favourable light. Many articles written about the generation tend to focus on the faults rather than the potential benefits of the cohort, benefits we discussed in our previous editorial. To discover more, we created a questionnaire and got a population of Gen Z to complete it. The results from our research show, 63.6% of respondents said that they believed the portrayal of Gen Z in the media was uncomplimentary. Much of [...]

As an organisation, one of our main focuses is spreading awareness of the benefits of having an age-diverse workforce. This has mainly been done through the perspective of including older workers. However, following last week's editorial, we shall be discussing the advantages of having younger workers, specifically those with very limited experience. This includes graduates fresh out of university and early talent. Many organisations miss out on this cohort as their job requirements unnecessarily specify 5-7 years of experience. With older generations, a big benefit is their level of experience. For younger generations, their lack of experience is their biggest advantage and can help businesses. Because they are fresh slates with limited training and evolution, the firm can invest in their development and mould them into the perfect fit for the role they need to fill. Whilst this can be a costly endeavour, training employees can help boost retention rates [...]