A new survey has highlighted that tech industry workers begin to experience ageism in the workplace at just 29, far lower than the national average of 41.
The UK tech startup scene has always been filled with young innovators, some fresh out of university with big ideas and exposure to emerging technologies. New research has revealed that this age gap is more prevalent than most people realise, with around 41% of IT and tech workers in the UK having witnessed age discrimination in the workplace.
The most common forms of ageism seen in tech workplaces involved older people not being hired, being passed over for promotion despite qualifications, and being excluded from social activities. Around 32% of tech workers reported that they're afraid of losing their job in the future due to ageism.
The latest ONS statistics show that around two thirds of those the tech industry are actually over 35 years old, but the perception that this industry is for the young is having a negative impact on employee expectations. Worker rights charity Centre for Ageing Better has been investigating the reasons that people in the field worry that they're too old for the job.
The charity's senior programme manager Patrick Thomson spoke to the Telegraph on the issue this week, saying "This situation is alarming: if people experience a degraded self-image because of the belief that only younger workers can understand the sector and are worthy of being part of it, it might be detrimental to their mental health."
Thomson noted that qualifications are seen as becoming obsolete in the tech sector much more rapidly than in other industries, and that "even though they have on-the-job experience and competencies that are very relevant, because their date of qualifications are old they experience bias."
