“I have a very open mind. I’m very curious,” says Gaye Moore, who has been an entrepreneur for many years working in personal branding, but, she adds, “as a 62-year-old woman in business, you’re ignored, basically. I’m bringing new elements to my business every year. I forge my own path, but you really have to fight your corner.”
While the law bans discrimination, including ageism in the workplace, it remains a significant concern in Ireland due to the generational divide and its impact on employment. Undoubtedly, a lack of appreciation and diminishing value of the older workforce is witnessed in many industries. “I have friends in their 50s and 60s who have looked for jobs or business opportunities. They are very competent people, but they don’t even get interviewed because of their age. Both men and women,” says Moore.
“They want to work but are left feeling as though they are consigned to the scrap heap. My feeling now is if you can’t get a job, create one for yourself. We have a duration of experience that other people don’t have. We have huge experience in managing people, solving conflicts, motivating people. We have so much to bring to the table.”
Almost half of people in their 60s are part of the workforce. Employment among those aged 65+ has increased 50 per cent in the past five years, according to the Age Action Report – Reframing Ageing: The State of Ageing in Ireland 2022. The potential of the older workforce is vast, but ageism exists in subtle and not so subtle ways.
A person may experience or witness ageism in many ways, including if an employer or co-workers make negative or biased comments about a person’s age; if an older person is passed up for new opportunities despite having the appropriate experience and qualifications; if a person is given less support in comparison with younger colleagues; or if an employer encourages a person to retire early.
“One in nine people aged 66 or older are still in paid work, and many more are engaged in unpaid care work or volunteering in their communities,” says Nat O’Connor, senior public affairs and policy specialist at Age Action.
“However, every year, thousands of people are forced to give up work, whether they want to or not, due to mandatory retirement clauses in contracts, which were banned in Australia, Canada and New Zealand decades ago.”
The decision to withdraw from the labour market is not always a personal choice but due in part to illness, disability, retirement, a lack of opportunities, or ageism affecting an older person’s access to work. As a result, a person in their 60s who is unemployed is likely to be long-term unemployed.
“While most older adults report good health, illness and disability become a fact of life for more people,” says O’Connor. “Health inequalities are high in Ireland, with those from the top 20 per cent of the income distribution living on average five years longer than those from the bottom 20 per cent.”
Bearing in mind that while many older people own their own homes, a growing number are still paying off a mortgage in their late 60s due to economic issues and many are renting in the private sector with one-quarter of older tenants expected to be renters forever due to the current housing crisis. An older person’s housing situation can add a significant degree of stress to their lives, damaging their mental and physical health.
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“Most older adults experience a loss of weekly income, and three in 10 rely on social protection for more than 90 per cent of their income,” says O’Connor. “The State pension is an important source of income for everyone in older age, whereas private pensions tend to be concentrated among those who were formerly higher earners.”
A regular income is a significant issue for the older population, while maintaining careers to provide for that income is another. Feeling pushed out, undermined, working in environments made purposefully difficult, and a lack of equal treatment often negatively affects an older employee.
Age bias perpetuates stereotypes that diminish the many qualities and layers of a strong talent pool. Addressing age bias in the workplace offers immense benefits for companies with a workforce that feels supported, empowered and acknowledged, thereby delivering results.
Moore is planning on connecting younger groups of people with older groups as a way to create a co-ordinated network throughout her clientele and community. She recognises the differences between generations and the conflicting self-worth experienced by a generation consumed by the attention of others no matter how short-lived, and the internal self-bias the older generation may hold from a lifetime of conditioning.
Both older and younger generations have an opportunity to learn from one another and navigate bias through self-reflection and self-worth, highlighting the individual expertise from generation to generation. Moore recommends knowing and appreciating yourself first and not trying to be all things to all people. Advice she freely hands out to everyone, no matter their age.
“I have learned that I’m an ideas person, a creative person,” she says. After a 40-year hiatus, Moore has lifted the paintbrush again and taken to watercolours. She has also spent the past three years getting to grips with kayaking and has shared the waters with an 80-year-old kayaker.
“I’m a very motivational and supportive person, but things like admin drive me insane. And that’s where I fall down, so I outsource some of that. Knowing yourself is learning what you are good at, and what you’re not good at.”
Moore suggests that Irish people have “an awful habit” of thinking they are not good at anything, but as a person ages, they are met with a self-limiting belief because of the stereotypes attached to their age, the language used around ageing, the expectations surrounding new technology, and a perceived inability to change.
To that she says, “a lot of women in their 50s and 60s would probably tell you that they don’t actually care what people think”, says Moore. “The freedom that this brings is amazing after years of building resilience. I know my faults. I know my good points. And I always try to improve.”
At this stage of her life, having been through grief, loss, separation and bad relationships, Moore has seen a lot and with that, she has grown and learned more about herself as a woman in business. Having dipped her toe into her 60s, she highly values the experiences and expertise of her years.
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The capability of a person to do their job should not be aligned with age but supported by their expertise and belief in themselves. Age should not be a factor in the workforce. “Obviously, at this stage, I have made some huge bloopers. I am at the stage that I know I made them and accept them,” she says, re-enforcing the idea that learning from our mistakes is what makes us individual, no matter a person’s age.
“Life is all about curiosity. It’s about observation and never about judgment or criticising. That’s what makes us human.”
