Dive Brief:
- Job seekers commenting on Glassdoor mentioned ageism at skyrocketing rates in 1Q 2025, a 133% year-over-year increase, the platform reported Sept. 2.
- While mentions of ageism dipped slightly last quarter, they’re still 20% higher than Q3 2024, the last peak, Glassdoor data analyst Katherine Engelman wrote in a post. Many users over 50 said they can’t even land an interview, she noted.
- Responses have been supportive, with Glassdoor users offering tips on how older job seekers can combat hiring-related ageism, Engelman said.
Dive Insight:
The responses on Glassdoor to job seekers reporting ageism may also help hiring managers and recruiting pros keep their talent pools as broad as possible.
For instance, older job seekers who haven’t been on the job market for a while might be blocked from the hiring pipeline because they’re not up-to-date on current resume conventions and interview techniques, Engelman suggested. One IT manager explained in a comment that AI hiring tools, such as those embedded in application tracking systems to scan resumes, can be “wonky.”
The Glassdoor analysis backs a CWI Labs September 2024 report, which found that nearly 6 in 10 of job seekers who are 50 and older said they feel they’ve been kept out of the hiring process due to ageism.
It’s a major issue for U.S. businesses and is costing the U.S. economy trillions of dollars annually, CWI’s CEO Garry Officer warned in a statement.
Age bias isn’t just a hiring related problem; it’s also a workplace concern, according to a May survey by Resume Now.
The survey of almost 900 individuals revealed a major disconnect between older and younger workers, with most older workers saying they felt occasionally disrespected. The workers also said they were paid less than younger colleagues for the same work, passed over for promotions and pressured to retire or targeted during layoffs, raising red flags for potential age discrimination claims.