Ageism: under the EDI radar

It’s tempting to ignore ageism, but as a profession we’re missing a trick if we do.

According to ENI’s recent salary survey of people working in insight, 3% of respondents in permanent roles are aged 55 and over, and another 6% are in contract roles. How much more representative would we be if we could double those percentages in the next two years?

Look at the bigger picture. The Harvard Business Review estimates that 25% of workers will be 55 or over by 2025, and the 2021 Census recorded that 31% of the population already falls into that age group.

Not employing more people aged 55 and over means the economy is missing vital contributors, companies are missing highly skilled staff, and people who can’t claim a state pension until 67 are struggling with the high cost of living. That’s before the retirement age rises further: for many people working today, it could be 70 or 71.

For the insight profession, it means we are short-changing marketing. Research agencies fail to give clients robust, representative insight on age, and marketers often fail to appreciate the needs of the older consumers they are marketing to.

Age belongs in EDI

The MRS states: ‘The research sector must be representative of the changing world around us. The only barriers to progress should be personal choice and professional capability.’ Yet who can say, hand on heart, that our sector takes age into account and is representative on this protected characteristic?

Are we encouraging people ‘of a certain age’ to work in insight? Age is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, alongside race, disability and sex, so the same equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives should apply to it. Instead, it’s a hidden problem: few organisations publish data on age or run initiatives to support older workers.

Can we afford not to?

Are we worried that we can’t afford to employ older workers? ENI’s salary survey shows that permanent workers over 55 earn 4.25% more than those aged 45 to 55. But look around: they earn more because the few still employed in that age group are in critical roles, while lower-paid colleagues have left permanent employment. In my experience, with family and mortgage responsibilities behind them, many people in that age group are happy to take lower-paid roles.

This could be so different. Companies function better, make better decisions and innovate more creatively with a diverse and inclusive range of opinions, styles and knowledge. Age is a key part of diversity, yet for reasons of expediency, or because it’s unfashionable, it is ignored. It’s a national problem across all professions, not just insight. Ageism is so ingrained in all of us that we don’t see it.

Why older talent makes sense

If, to paraphrase Catherine Tate, you’re still not ‘bovvered’, here’s why encouraging applications from people aged 50 and over makes sense, and could make you a trailblazer:

• We bemoan a lack of talent in insight, but have done precious little to encourage people who took early retirement after Covid back into the profession.
• Age brings experience, knowledge and, on average, greater resilience and happiness. Consider the impact an injection of ‘age’ could have on your workforce.
• Have we forgotten the power of the grey market? It’s estimated to be worth £320bn a year, and older consumers are more likely to have disposable income than younger ones. Who is better placed to understand how they think and to communicate with them?

Marketing departments can be just as blinkered. My father recently bought a Honda e electric car, and the model has now been withdrawn in the UK. The rationale? It only travels short distances before it needs recharging. That makes it ideal for older drivers, whose numbers are climbing and who are unlikely to be haring up and down motorways, but it was never promoted with them in mind.

What employers can change

The government already offers incentives to encourage older workers back to work. They don’t yet reach the insight profession, but with industry support there’s no reason why they shouldn’t.

So why not look at the adaptations made for other groups and adjust them for older workers? ENI’s survey found just 2% of respondents working part-time, yet ONS figures put the number of people aged 50 and over working part-time at a record 3.6 million, including a quarter of those in their 50s. Could the insight profession do more to offer this way of working?

Employers could also consider:

• More flexible working hours.
• 360-degree appraisals.
• Back-to-work training and hands-on sessions with the latest technology.
• Better access to healthcare and more support at work.

An opportunity, not a problem

I don’t just want to see change in my lifetime; it’s more urgent than that. Doubling those percentages is only the start. We can make a difference, and our industry will benefit.

Look at your company’s approach to EDI and ask how it could take account of age. I’d love to hear your thoughts.