Blog Post

Forty Plus -  Is Age Discrimination a Myth or a Reality?

Life is not fair to anyone especially a woman seeking job opportunity after crossing the bridge of 40. The chances look very miniscule if you stand a chance to be beside Gen Y.  There is a dearth of jobs for females in this age bracket. My experience taught me that the market is open only 10% to hire in this bracket who look for maturity and  experience as an advantage.  

An extended break can also affect the earning potential of a woman. Not only does it slow down increments and promotions, it can also impact their development as a professional.

Age related assumptions create the perception that older workers, especially women, lack the stamina, aren’t technically savvy, and want to slow down; they aren’t invested in their careers. But the opposite is often true. It’s the company that is no longer invest in their older employee.

A federal law in the US called the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects people who are 40 years and older from age-based employment discrimination. This law prohibits discriminating against a person because of her age with respect to any term, or condition of employment, including promotions, compensation, benefits, assignments, training and of course, hiring itself.

Since there is no codified law on age discrimination in India, there is no designated statutory body which deals with matters pertaining to age discrimination , under the general Indian penal laws, no criminal sanctions are prescribed in relation to age discrimination.

There are heated debates relating to Age discrimination the Social Media but what remains to be seen is will India as a country stand by its Mid age employee and the Corporates take care of their maturing workforce.  The battle goes on……

Why are we not celebrating Age diversity ? 

Sajeeda M shares her point of view  on Age Discrimination .

Pioneer Management Consultant Pvt Ltd