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The latest HR barometer reveals that older employees often struggle with bias in the workplace. This has consequences for the labor market.
“This result should make companies sit up and take notice,” says Bruno Staffelbach. The rector of the University of Lucerne and professor of business administration has spent 14 years analyzing the mood of Swiss employees with the so-called human resources barometer. The latest survey now shows: Older employees in Swiss companies often face discrimination. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed see at least partially negative biases against older employees in their workplace (see chart). Or in other words: only slightly more than 14 percent of employees do not observe any negative bias against older employees.
Stereotypes affect retirement
Specifically, employees were asked, for example, if there was an opinion in their department that older employees were less capable of adapting to technological changes. The majority is of this opinion. This bias apparently does not correspond to the facts: the survey also shows that even older employees see more opportunities than dangers in digitization. But age discrimination can have the consequence that the “digital self-efficacy” of those affected decreases. That means: Older employees tend to have lower expectations of their own abilities when dealing with digital technologies due to stereotypes expressed by their colleagues, and they are less confident.
Bruno Staffelbach, Rector of the University of Lucerne and Professor of Business Administration.
If older employees struggle with prejudice when dealing with digital technologies, this could have serious consequences for both the company and employees, Staffelbach warns. Studies have shown that a negative and age-discriminatory corporate climate is associated with poorer corporate performance. The 63-year-old professor points out that one in five employees in Switzerland is 55 or older, and the trend is increasing. “Older employees are therefore of vital importance to the Swiss job market,” says Lucerne.
According to Staffelbach, the widespread prevalence of negative age stereotypes is also of concern in another context. “Age discrimination also plays a key role in the willingness to work beyond retirement age.” According to experts, this provision is of great importance because it can counteract the shortage of skilled workers in some industries. Staffelbach: “Our study has shown that about 40 percent of those surveyed could imagine working longer.” However, the responses also showed that age discrimination can greatly affect this provision. It shows that older employees who face negative age stereotypes tend not to want to work anymore. The greater the age discrimination in the professional environment, the less willing they are to work beyond retirement age.
Decision makers have a duty
What should be done to prevent age stereotypes from spreading in companies? Staffelbach calls on entrepreneurs to be aware of their responsibility. “Decision-makers have a duty to create an open work environment that does not cement any stereotypes.” The manners, style and culture of a company should be exemplified by executives.
Age discrimination is a central factor in Staffelbach’s assessment when deciding whether to work longer than retirement. But, naturally, there are many other factors that can influence this decision. An example of a fictitious person can be extracted from the survey, who is more willing to work beyond retirement age: he is a man who has been working in an SME, and has only been for a few years, and who also reads commercial emails at your leisure. and I spoke to the boss on the phone. It is also essential that this man has younger caregivers at work to support him on digitization issues. On the other hand, a woman who has worked for a large corporation for many years, strictly separates business from private matters, and hardly has younger caregivers at work, would not be willing to work longer.
The HR Barometer is a cooperative project between ETH Zurich and the Universities of Lucerne and Zurich. The basis for the 2020 HR Barometer is a 1995 survey of employees between the ages of 18 and 65, based on the sample record from the Federal Statistical Office. The survey was conducted between March and May 2020 in German, French and Italian-speaking Switzerland.
