Came across this interesting nugget (part of a wider study) which suggests that many organisations are placing an age limit on potential employees at the upper end of the age spectrum - and in doing so, missing out on the wealth of experience this group can bring.
Ironically, this sense of 'retiring' people from the job market before they're ready to go, may mean that employers are also placing additional constraints on the contributions and levels of success possible for women - by effectively telling us that the focus for our working years, is restricted to the years we're most likely to be bringing up children.
Time, perhaps, to look at how inclusive your employer brand is at both ends of the career spectrum? And to make sure that your recruitment processes follow through on your brand promises, by not imposing career timetables on those who can bring much needed experience to your organisation?
Many employers equate youth with digital skills and adaptability. Less often acknowledged is that "young" can also mean “cheap”. But I don't think that's the whole story. Psychologically, many of us still cling to the notion that we will work flat out in our 30s, "make it" in our 40s and peak in our 50s. Yet this career timetable in our heads shrinks the talent pool. It squashes our greatest work intensity into the period which for many of us is marked "child-rearing". And it pushes too many people out of work with 20, even 30 years of good health still ahead of them.
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