Despite federal laws against age discrimination, nearly two out of three workers over age 45 say they have seen it or experienced it in the workplace, and this bias against older workers costs the U.S. economy more than $850 billion annually, one expert says.
Those were the sobering statistics shared at NJBIA’s recent Diversity Equity & Inclusion Council meeting by Vinay Singh, who has decades of experience working with companies to build diverse teams, equitable systems and inclusive cultures.
Singh, who is also the author of “Your Future in Pieces: The Brutal Truth: How Ageism and Income Inequality Are Destroying America,” said he has conducted over 340,000 interviews, including conversations with people whose careers have been derailed by age-related biases.
“The stories abound … the 56-year-old business technology director selling suits at Macy’s … a 50-year-old senior copywriter at a Fortune 500 company who is now an Uber driver … These are truisms,” Singh said. “The growth of underemployment is actively pushing the middle class to lower class and the lower class to the poverty class …”
Singh discussed common age-related biases and how research has debunked them all. To watch a recording of his presentation, “The Modern War on the Experienced Class,” go here.
The NJBIA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council includes business leaders from all backgrounds and industries who strategize on successful DE&I practices at monthly meetings and events. For more information, about the council go here.
