Age Discrimination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Age Discrimination - Essay Example This type of discrimination can take many forms and can surface in many workplace areas. This paper highlights age discrimination, who it affects, where it is likely to surface, the laws constructed to prevent its occurrence, and also illustrates suggestions for today’s HR managers to prevent this form of discrimination from occurring. Age discrimination has many definitions, but can be best described as a situation which occurs when older workers are â€Å"avoided or excluded in everyday (business) activities because they are simply the wrong age† (Nussbaum, 2000). Age discrimination also involves denying the provision of job opportunities to older workers, such as a career-based promotion, in favor of promoting a younger individual for the management role. Age discrimination, when it occurs, impacts both the more seasoned worker and the business as well. For instance, the older employee who is experiencing discrimination based on age will not only see diminished job opportunities, but their emotional well-being can be impacted negatively. Despite the various legislation created to combat this growing form of discrimination, evidence suggests that age-related bias and discrimination is on the rise in contemporary business and in the broader society. According the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), age-bias claims have soared in recent years, which is attributed to today’s economic conditions (Levitz and Shishkin, 2009). For instance, because many companies are currently looking for methods to reduce costs, lay-offs have become the cost-cutting choice when personnel and payroll costs begin to exceed salary and compensation budgets. In addition, recent changes to existing anti-discrimination laws have made it easier for laid-off employees to allege age bias as the rationale for why they lost their jobs (Levitz and Shishkin). However, why is the older worker being targeted for lay-offs over their younger,