Are you in HR?

Question

How do companies view taking on employees in their 50's if at all ? Does the new legislation (ageism) have any impact?
If your company got a cv from a person in such an age group what other factors would you consider, if the person was qualified for the job and met the requirements adequately, for him/her to be taken on board? Does pension come into the scope? etc

Thank you

Answer 1

I work for Tesco and we are very proactive around recruiting people of all ages. We have many employees who are 50yrs plus - some even in their 70's! The stance is that provided that the individual is physically capable of doing the job in question then their age is irrelevant. Pension does not factor as the impact of National Insurance for someone already receiving a pension is an oncost for the individual as opposed to the company.

Answer 2

Some companies have a very definite policy of taking on over 50s for a variety of reasons. These include the fact that they are usually much more loyal to the company than younger workers, they tend to be more conscientious, work harder, have less time off and generally give better value for money. This has all been proved by numerous studies and has led the likes of B&Q, Asda, M&S, etc to take on a much bigger number of older employees.

Answer 3

Hi!

From the date legislation came into force in the UK, you no longer have to include your date of birth on your CV. Nor do you need to include a photgraph!

Providing you are in good health (or declare any predominant medical problem which is current or ongoing) and can do the job for which you are applying you cannot be discriminated against because of your age. The question regarding pensions does not enter the equation and bears no relevance to your possible employment prospects!

Answer 4

We just took a lady on in her 50s. She started as a temp, trouble is this is her first job after a career break as a manager and the position is too junior for her. She was already temping here and the person who recruited her talked up the role to get her to stay. Shes bbeen here a month or two and is already agitating for a management job when there are younger and, in this field, more experienced people ahead of her for promotion. Shes not really proving to be that adaptable in picking up the tasks shes meant to do either.

Regardless of what the age legislation says this is the main reason that older people find it hard to get employed in new fields and youll need to address that when you get to interview stage.