OK Boomer - The UK tech workers experiencing old-age discrimination in their twenties
Updated: Apr 23, 2020
by CW News
Even though 46% of IT and tech workers have heard the relatively new phrase used in the workplace, 76% don't consider the phrase “OK Boomer” to be ageist.Data released by leading tech recruiter CWJobs reveal the staggering levels of everyday ageism IT & tech workers are facing at work. From seemingly innocuous comments to being overlooked for promotion in favour of younger colleagues, a worrying number of the UK’s tech-sector employees are facing daily hurdles to prove they’re not yet a career ‘dinosaur’.Prematurely mature
Well over a third (41%) of IT & Tech-sector workers said they have observed age discrimination in the workplace, compared to 27% average across other UK industries. It’s no surprise then that 61% of workers in the sector answered ‘yes’ when asked if, in the tech industry employees experience prejudice when considered to be older, the highest of any UK sector.Extraordinarily, today’s survey reveals that those employed in IT & tech are venerable to start experiencing age discrimination over a decade earlier than the national industry average.On average, UK IT & Tech sector employees start experiencing ageism at the age of twenty-nine and are prematurely considered ‘too old’ for their industry by thirty-eight.36% of tech workers told CWJobs that someone has implied their career is likely to be negatively impacted by their increasing age.
In fact, despite the UK’s ageing population, 40% of the workforce say they feel old when compared to their co-workers. This rises to well over half (57%) amongst IT & Tech workers.Tech workers also begin to feel older at a much younger age. On average UK workers say they start to feel their years at 47, still a relatively young age.However, in tech, a worker’s vintage matures a decade earlier at 37 years old, the youngest across any UK industry.The most common forms of age-based discrimination include not being offered a job (47%), being overlooked for a promotion (31%) and excluded from social activities (28%).Prehistoric Prejudices
Of the many insults levied against IT & tech workers, the most frequently used are ‘Old Git’ (58%) ‘Old Fart’ (61%) and ‘Dinosaur’ (56%). 53% say they have heard the phrase ‘coffin dodger’. Another 60% have heard it said that ‘Old people don’t understand technology’.Across all industries, male workers were in fact the most likely to be on the receiving end of ageist insults.
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