Discrimination age-old theme in labour force

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Oli Scarff / Getty Images Older workers are needed to fill jobs, economists say. (POSTMEDIA GETTY IMAGES)

After beating cancer, James Ford was eager to re-enter the workforce and resume an active business life. But the Alberta man's nearly four decades of experience in marketing were consistently eclipsed by his age, with prospective employers more interested in his health than in his talent.

"The attitude is: 'I want to hire someone who will be with me for five or 10 years; I don't want someone who's going to die on me next week, or get sick,' " says Ford, 71. "Well, I'm healthy. I work 14/7. And there are lots of senior 14/7 people who would love to have a job."

The way Ford sees it, he ran up against one of the least acknowledged, most persistent prejudices in Canadian society: ageism. And while age discrimination isn't a new phenomenon, a tectonic shift in workplace demographics will soon make it a problem the country can't ignore.

For the first time, census population data show there are more citizens aged 55 to 64 (4,393,305, to be precise) than there are people aged 15 to 24 (a mere 4,365,585). In other words, more Canadians are at the age when one customarily exits work life, than are at the age when one usually enters it.

Economists say if the country is to thrive, it must keep older workers on the job past traditional retirement. "We have to take this very seriously," says Fred Vettese, chief actuary at human resources consulting firm Morneau Shepell. "The only question is whether we anticipate the problem and act in advance or simply react to it once it manifests."

The paradox is this cohort is often pushed out -- or kept out -- of the workforce because of prejudices about age.

If current trends hold, Canada will have a labour shortfall of two million to three million people over the next 30 years, so organizations have to figure out if ageism is still something they can afford.

Vettese notes, for instance, that mature employees often price themselves out of jobs due to their expectations about vacation, benefits and compensation. It doesn't necessarily mean employers are ageist if they reject these expectations.

But Canadians do think ageist attitudes are everywhere. A poll for Postmedia News found three-quarters of those asked believe workplaces discriminate against older workers who are looking for jobs. The older the person, the more he or she thinks such discrimination is taking place, according to the Ipsos Reid online survey of 1,005 people, conducted July 10 to 13. Even a majority of young adults believes older job applicants are encountering age discrimination.

Don Schepens, who teaches human resource management at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, says overcoming stereotypes will be a challenge.

"Some of the big ones, of course, are that older workers won't work as hard or they'll have higher expenses for health (care) -- and neither of those is really true," says Schepens. "The baby boomers coming in right now are probably in better shape than any other group at that age has been in the last 100 years."

Doreen Copeland, a 54-year-old from Vancouver, got her walking papers after three decades in radio. She believes her seniority was her undoing.

"With longevity comes a higher salary. And there was always a source of young, eager people who were willing to work for next to nothing," says Copeland.

She reinvented herself as a freelance writer, public relations expert and project manager. She says self-employment was more viable than trying to get hired at a "hip, young upstart" staffed by people two or three decades her junior. She believes a common perception among managers is older workers are prone to coasting, and they don't contribute the same amount of energy or commitment as younger workers. Younger workers can see them as overstaying their welcome in often coveted positions.

-- Postmedia News

Works for them

Famous older 'workers' who have achieved major career success:

Christopher Plummer: Canadian actor, 82. Star of stage and screen, Plummer made his film debut in 1958 and hasn't stopped working. He won his first Academy Award at 82, making him the oldest actor ever to receive the honour.

Richard Branson: British business magnate, 62. This year he became the oldest person to kitesurf across the English Channel -- an accolade he adds to a long list of stunts, world-record attempts, entrepreneurial successes and humanitarian efforts.

Joan Rivers: Comedian, 79. Even as she approaches 80, the TV personality shows no sign of relinquishing her title as one of the hardest-working women in show business.

Helen Thomas: Journalist, 91. Known as the first lady of American political journalism for decades of work as a White House correspondent. Thomas didn't retire from the news business until June 2010, two months before her 90th birthday.

Betty White: Actress, 90. White has worked steadily throughout her life, even becoming the oldest person to host Saturday Night Live in 2010.

Donald Trump: American business magnate, 66. With fingers in real estate, politics, beauty pageants and reality television, Trump likely won't retire soon.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 23, 2012 B8