Is age discrimination still a problem?

Britons facing redundancies once they are over the age of 50 have a "much lower" chance of finding a new job than their younger counterparts, one commentator has claimed, which may lead some people to believe that age discrimination is still a problem in the UK workplace.

Rachel Krys, director for the Employers Forum on Age, said that although changes were being made, there were still cases of older individuals finding it very hard to re-enter the workplace.

"There’s a lot more awareness raising that needs to be done. There is a lot of age discrimination that isn’t coming out [and] that is under the radar really," she added.

Ms Krys explained that some older applicants were not making it to the interview stage when applying for a job and that by removing the retirement age, the government could send a strong message that ageism is not acceptable.

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And there have also been reported claims of discrimination in the workplace against women this week, after the Trade Union Congress tabled a motion arguing that high heels should be banned at work.