Study: 3 out of 5 candidates over the age of 45 felt discriminated at the interview due to their age

Age continues to be an important factor in the recruitment process, as evidenced by the results of the latest BestJobs survey, and raising the retirement age has the potential to change the dynamics of the labor market. Thus, 80% of candidates over 45 feel that there is a reluctance of recruiters regarding older people, and 60% claim to have participated in at least one job interview where they were discriminated against because of their age. On the other hand, 1 in 3 recruiters admits to turning down a candidate at least once because of their age.

A new law raises the retirement age from 61 years and 9 months to 62 years for women and aims to gradually raise it to 65 in 2035 to match the retirement age of men. Currently, pensioners and social aid beneficiaries represent 39.5% of the more than 10.8 million economically inactive Romanian citizens, according to the census data carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). At the same time, data from the National Employment Agency show that almost 63% of the unemployed registered in Romania in December 2022 were over 40 years old.

The age of recruited candidates matters in the eyes of more than 15% of recruiters, while more than half (57%) say it depends a lot on the specifics of the job. When analyzing a CV, in addition to age, recruiters look in particular at the candidate’s experience and education (over 85%), but also at the location. When it comes to older candidates, 34% of recruiters say they are concerned about candidates’ lack of experience with technology, 14% about their resistance to change, another 14% about their lack of openness to learning new things, and the increased risk of the occurrence of health problems (also 14%).

“Although age should not be an important factor in the recruitment process, the reality of the labor market looks different, and employees over 45 have difficulty competing with young candidates for positions where adaptability and dynamism are more important , than the experience itself. In the long term, raising the retirement age will put even more pressure on older female applicants, the category targeted by this measure. In order to reduce the effects of the increase in the retirement age, training and professional conversion programs are needed, so that candidates over 45 remain relevant on the labor market”, says Ana Vișian, BestJobs Romania Marketing Manager.

3 out of 4 candidates participating in the BestJobs survey say they plan to work even after retirement, 62% just to stay active, and 38% because they need money. In this regard, more than 35% would consider learning a new specialization that would make their job-finding experience easier, only if their current or potential employer asked them to do so, 33% if it was available for free, and almost 12% would learn a new specialization regardless of the cost.

Of those who answered yes, 39% would participate in training courses in the field of IT or other technologies, 13% would learn a foreign language, another 13% would take a course to develop leadership or management skills, and almost 10% would attend a customer relations training course.The survey was conducted between January and February, on a sample of 1,122 candidates and 214 recruiters from Romania.