Age discrimination ongoing in financial services
Just over one third of Australian-based finance professionals say they have personally experienced age-based discrimination, according to eFinancialCareers' latest Diversity Survey.
Overall, seven in 10 finance professionals say they believe age discrimination exists in the industry.
Of those who said they had personally experienced the discrimination, almost one third said it was because they were too young and just over a third said it was because they were too old.
"The industry is regularly accused of suffering from a culture of ageism, and these latest results suggest that there is still a long way to go," stated eFinancialCareers managing director Asia Pacific George McFerran.
However, he said it was surprising that younger workers were also being discriminated against, which might be a result of the tight hiring market where there are fewer middle management roles available for which younger staff can apply.
Four in five respondents said workers aged 30 and under are adequately valued by their company, but only two thirds said the same for workers over 50.
Around one third of respondents said a change of culture would be necessary for things to change.
McFerran said there was a strong argument for financial services companies to enact strategies for engaging and retaining older workers to ease skills shortages.
"They bring professional contacts, relationships, credibility and - most of all - experience. Their expertise during challenging times like these can prevent younger professionals from making potentially unwise decisions due to a lack of perspective that can only be remedied by experience," McFerran said.
McFerran recommended that financial services firms revisit their recruitment and retention strategies to ensure they are fair and equitable, and to ensure older workers are represented in a way that brings long-term value to the organisation.
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