A senior figure in the travel industry, with more than 20 years’ experience, has questioned whether companies are ageist when it comes to recruiting after failing to find a new job at the age of 51.
Despite submitting more than 500 job applications he has been invited for only ‘a handful’ of interviews, which have led to nothing, despite an impressively strong CV that includes senior marketing roles at high-profile firms, both in the UK and overseas.
“I have 29 years on my CV and I can’t get a job. My CV is strong so I’m confused,” he said. “I apply for director roles, which is my level, to be told they are looking for eight to 10 years’ experience. I apply for ‘head of’ jobs to be told I’m overqualified. Either way I’m too old to be considered. Some job ads actually invite you to apply to join their ‘young’ team.”
He said most of the job applications he’s submitted over the past 10 months have been ignored. “Being ignored because the job has specific requirements which I don’t meet is understandable, but surely that isn’t the case 500+ times? Are senior people reluctant to hire older and more experienced people than them into their reporting line?”
It’s been seven years since he was in a full-time role, having left his last employment to set up his own agency when he suddenly became a single parent and needed the extra flexibility that provided. He now wants to return to a corporate job, but with no luck.
Since posting about his situation on social media, he’s been contacted by others in their 50s with similar stories. “I spoke to a lady with 27 years’ travel industry experience and she can’t get a job. She said her age is a barrier.
“I received a call this week from another (employed) person in the industry telling me how he believes that ageism is real and he will try and help me. I spoke to a 50-plus guy in the industry who moved far down his pay grade to get a job, then being asked daily for help and advice from the younger and more highly paid people that hired him.”
The first questions he’s been asked when applying for a role are his age, along with gender, sexuality, marital status, race and disability status, he said. “None of those things, by law, can influence a recruitment decision, yet that’s how every application starts and no doubt all those things contribute to recruitment decision.”
While he accepts that there are many over fifties working in travel, he says most of them have been working in the industry for decades. “It is very easy to say ‘there are lots of people over 50 in the industry’ and I have never questioned that because that’s not what this is about. They have been working in the industry for almost 30 years, same as me.
“I’m saying that if those people were suddenly unemployed / made redundant THEN they would face the same challenge as me.
“People won’t accept ageism exists until it happens to them. Recruitment agencies and travel businesses have no choice but to say it doesn’t exist, but they certainly know differently.”
What do recruiters say?
Recruitment consultants insist that most travel firms aren’t intentionally ageist, but they agreed there might be ‘unconscious bias’.
Basia Kolosinka, Managing Director of C&M Travel Recruitment, said she’s sometimes been asked to find candidates within a certain age bracket, usually by clients with a young team. “Some people say ‘we have a young office culture, we want someone young to fit in’, some say they want a certain sex to balance a team.
“But we always push back. We try to educate clients and tell them that it’s about finding the best person, but who they take on is their prerogative and we know that unconscious bias happens.”
However, she added: “We have not experienced this much and not at senior levels, because for most senior roles they are looking for experience. Sometimes when people don’t get a job they think it might be their age or their sex, and I can appreciate how frustrating that must be for candidates, but there are lots of people in their 40s, 50s and 60s in travel.
“At certain levels it is a young industry, but not as you move up the ladder. And as recruiters we are not ageist, we want to place every candidate, but we can’t help how our clients feel.”
Fi Morrison-Arnthal, founder of Ambitions Travel Recruitment, said she’s only come across ageism twice in the past three years.
On both occasions, it was for travel consultant roles, where she felt the recruiter had questions about why an older person was seeking a junior position. “But this is certainly not a regular occurrence, not in my experience,” she said.
“On both of the occasions that I became aware of it, it was an absolute shock. On one occasion, when we probed into why a travel consultant hadn’t been appointed and we realised it was because of their age, we terminated our relationship with the firm.”
Fi said she had never known candidates be asked to state their age in job applications. “We are an industry that places a huge amount of value on experience, and there is generally a well-rounded interview process,” she added. “Ageism is 100% not a trend.”
Laura Davis, Director of Gail Kenny Executive Recruitment, said she ‘rarely’ experienced a situation when a candidate’s age was the reason they weren’t hired. “As a specialist in mid-level roles up to senior management, we don’t have difficulties placing more experienced candidates,” she added.
Laura accepted companies ask job seekers for personal data, including their age, but she said this was to highlight any unconscious bias or lack of diversity. “We use our data in this way too, using the insights to ensure we are constantly striving to attract not only new talent, but a diverse and inclusive candidate pool, enabling us to work in partnership with our clients on their DEI (diversity, equality and inclusivity) strategies.
“With this data, we can identify where the diversity and inclusion gaps are, be that age, gender, ethnicity etc.”
However, Laura admitted there is ‘room for innovation around the hiring process’. “For some clients, we are asked to remove specific information from CV’s to avoid any unconscious bias. This could include removing names, education, age, location and even previous company names,” she said.
Kristina Wallen of HARP Wallen Recruitment said: “Being candid, from our perspective we are still marginally more likely to see gender bias than ageism, but that is not in the travel industry but related events – hospitality and sporting environments when there is an unconscious bias in the belief there are still pink and blue roles.”
Some companies are better than others when it comes to diversity, equality and inclusivity, three buzz words in recruitment, she said, adding that some of the bigger ones specifically train recruiters on interviewing to avoid unconscious bias.
She said job applications forms should always have a ‘prefer not to say’ option if people don’t want to disclose their age and other personal information, and she pointed out that it’s not obligatory to state your age on CVs.
Obviously, even if candidates don’t state their date of birth or exclude some of their years of experience from their job application, their age is likely to become apparent at some point in the recruitment process.
However, Kristina said: “Looking back over all our recently completely and ongoing assignments age has never been a deciding or limiting factor. There is for the most part, an acknowledgement that a certain level of expertise is going to come with a certain number of years’ experience.”
What does the law say?
Age discrimination was outlawed in 2006, but lawyer Ami Naru, Partner and Head of Employment at Travlaw, said the Employment Tribunal dealt with 34,000 age discrimination cases in England and Wales in 2023/24, a 13% increase on the previous year.
Employers need to take measures to reduce and eliminate it, said Ami, not least because compensation is potentially unlimited. “Not only are employees protected from age discrimination, but also job applicants and it tends to be during the recruitment process that a lot of allegations of age discrimination occur,” she said.
“Clearly, a job applicant will be disappointed on receiving news that they have not got a job, and, in order to prevent any allegations of age discrimination employers would be well advised to ensure that their recruitment processes are as free as possible from the age of an applicant having any influence on the outcome.
“It is really important that an employer provides instruction and training to employees involved in recruitment or any agencies it instructs to undertake recruitment on its behalf, to prevent age discrimination occurring or, indeed, any unconditional bias influencing decision making.”
Ami also cautioned recruiters about the use of AI (automated intelligence) during the hiring process. “Managers should receive training on how to understand algorithms and how to interpret and use any resulting data, including any pitfalls to avoid,” she said.
To reduce the risk of age discrimination, employers should advertise on a wide range of platforms, not just social media, in order to capture a wider pool of applicants, she said. “Avoid using images or wording in job adverts that could imply that the job is directed at a particular age group.
“Make sure that age is covered off in your diversity policies and continually review recruitment practices and eliminate any part of the process that leaves scope for age discrimination.”
Ami added: “On the whole, it is clear to see at any travel industry event that delegates are of mixed ages, which is by sharp contrast to other industries. The travel industry has an abundance of experienced travel individuals who, despite their age, bring something to the table, as do those that are much younger and have less experience.”
What can older candidates do to secure a role?
Kristina of HARP wallen said it about ‘keeping current’, particularly on technology. “We offer a lot of advice and preparation to candidates going for roles and will always give advice to candidates who believe that they are in some way being discriminated against,” she said.
Basia of C&M said sometimes candidates undersell or oversell their skills. “They might not be going for the right jobs. Speak to recruiters, be proactive, speak to all your contacts and tailor your CV to the role.”
Laura of Gail Kenny said: “Think about identifying the brands where you have aligned values and purpose. Know what employers are looking for and demonstrate genuine aligned values and purpose.”
She also recommended upskilling or taking the latest courses. “Digitally-led thinking and strong data led/insights driven experience continues to be in demand.
“Drive your personal brand and presence, use social media to positively promote the value of your experience, using your extra experience, your wider network and proven achievements as the focus. Positively interacting and commenting, showing relevance and insight.
“We are fortunate in travel that there are also a huge number of networking events and opportunities to connect with new contacts.”
She also recommended that candidates focus on what they would do going forward and their future goals, not just what they have achieved already. “Hiring managers are looking for how you are going to achieve current/future goals.”
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