Today's workforce is very diverse. Not only is it made up of individuals with different skillsets and areas of expertise, there is also a multi-generational dynamic and other factors that contribute to a number of organizations being more unique than ever before, which makes workforce management practices tricky. On the surface, this appears to be a good thing as it allows people from different walks of life to collaborate with one another and learn about their differences and similarities.
However, there is a dark side to this new work environment that exists, but isn't often discussed: discrimination. This kind of negative bias isn't new in the world of business. But as workers get older and are replaced by younger counterparts, as well as other life-changing events that affect organizations, discrimination on multiple levels is becoming increasingly common.
The ageism dilemma
There are a number of people today who are past the established retirement age but are still working to support themselves for various reasons. According to the Stanford Center on Longevity, by 2020, 25 percent of the workforce in the U.S. will be age 55 or older. Fourteen years ago, this number was just 13 percent. In addition, citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Stanford Center wrote that the number of men between 65 and 74 expected to be working six years from now will be 35 percent, while women employees in the same range is expected to reach 28 percent.
A recent article from Slate revealed that there are more people over the age of 50 who are unemployed compared to those who are significantly younger.
Workplace discrimination and retaliation are two issues that must be put at the forefront of corporate operations in order to make the workforce stronger and to accommodate those who are still capable of performing work at a high level but find that they aren't always being given the opportunity to prove it.
Pregnancy discrimination on the rise in the U.S.
There has been a sharp rise in discrimination complaints taken toward working professional women who are either pregnant or managing motherhood in parrallel to their careers.
The Atlantic wrote that in 2006, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received close to 5,000 complaints from women who felt they had been discriminated against by their employers. Four years later, that number was 6,000 – an increase of 30 percent.
Although there are laws against this kind of action, it still occurs and women have found themselves being terminated, having job offers rescinded by an employer who discovers that a candidate is pregnant, or their companies not providing them with adequate and reasonable accommodations related to their pregnancies.