Age is one of the nine 'protected characteristics' covered by discrimination law

I am very aware of my age at the moment. I am 51. I reminisce more than before. I used to hear people say to me when I was younger – time goes so fast. And I would ignore them. Of course, because it meant nothing to me. I hadn’t had as much time as they had to look back on. Only now am I really feeling that.

Is youth wasted on the young?  No – it isn’t. They are fresh, intelligent, full of new ideas and enthusiasm and vigour. They have a lot to give. We all do.

My emotional intelligence has become stronger, I feel, as I have aged. My confidence too. I am always open to learning more about people. Others will have gained amazing experience in their fields. Some will think that they have nothing more to learn. But I don’t think that is ever true.  We should all be constantly learning irrelevant of age. Shouldn’t we?

Through my career there are different versions of me. The youngest in the office initially. Office girl (women in offices can be called that literally forever, 60-year-old office girls, not unheard of and also ridiculous) and then the one getting married, children, divorced, getting married again and parental loss – amongst other things that life throws at me. For me - all experienced while holding down a full-time job. It has taught me a lot about human behaviour. How the workplace is learning to be more understanding and flexible. In some cases. I have juggled work with a busy/traumatic personal life, and I now appreciate how that is for others. I think that helps when you work with people. I have juggled a busy professional life with my home life. I see people of all ages in all sorts of situations doing the same. That’s life. At any stage.

You can be very easily judged by your age. In the workplace there will always be people who think they know best. And there are the ones that do actually know best. And ones who just don’t.

There is a way that different age demographics can work alongside each other. We can learn from each other. Everyone struggles. It would help if we could each be more vulnerable and honest. To be more open to learning from each other. If someone is very hard to work with then learn how to work with them. Look for the lesson for you. Is it screaming into a jumper on your loo break. Maybe??

I reached out to my LinkedIn followers before I wrote this to ask if anyone had experienced issues with ageism. I actually expected to hear from people my age.  And I did in one instance.  But the other contributors were younger people. Younger than me I should say. Both felt that their career had been affected because of their age in a negative manner. And this had actually not only hurt them but also led them to consider other trajectories for their careers. And affected their feelings towards whom they were working for. I could appreciate their disappointment.

Do younger people miss out because they don’t have experience, do older people miss out because they are too experienced. How is ageism affecting our day to day?  Should we act older/younger to get that promotion or pay rise? I hope not.

I think it comes down to respect, doesn’t it?  You may be a great manager/colleague, but have you got room to learn from the younger people joining our organisations, are you helping to develop older staff to keep them up to date? Appreciating the knowledge of older people.  Working alongside both?  Do you have the patience to teach. Can you care for your colleagues and share your experience. It has a terrific value.

And as an employee – have you learned to listen? Generational differences can be seen highlighted online every day.  But also, in the day to day at your work. I know they might not have rewound a VHS tape before returning - but they might be able to teach you about Chat GPT.   I may not be creating Tik Toks, but can I help someone using my life experience? Helping them have an easier time. 

 I guess overall the name of the game is: don’t judge a book by its cover. This will not benefit you or the book. Look for the lesson. And be patient. And caring. 

Everyone has a lot going on. And everyone has something to give.