EarthFest and Diversity: Why Age Inclusion Matters

It might seem unusual to launch Age 50 Ltd, a social enterprise campaigning to end workplace age discrimination, around EarthFest Industry Day but for me it makes perfect sense.

With a background in sustainability, food production, and social justice, I’ve see a unifying thread tying it all together—the critical need for diversity.

Diversity in Soil, Diversity in Workplaces

As far back as 6000 BCE, our ancestors practiced crop rotation to maintain soil health and ensure nutrient rich harvests. Then, modern fertilisers came along, eliminating the perceived need for crop rotation, leading to vast monoculture fields growing the same crops year after year. The result - soil degradation so severe that scientists warn we may only have 60 harvests left.

What does this have to do with age discrimination in workplaces?

Just like monocrops threaten the future of food production, monocultures in hiring and workplace culture risk creating sterile environments devoid of innovation, experience, and diverse perspectives.

The healthiest, most forward-thinking workplaces foster a rich diversity of experiences, ages, and backgrounds—creating the fertile ground where new insights and progress can truly grow.

Age Bias is Holding Businesses Back

Our society is aging, birthrates are falling, and our workplaces must reflect those changes. Yet, age discrimination is rampant from hiring biases to persistent stereotypes suggesting older employees are less adaptable or tech-savvy, even when no evidence supports these claims.

The Women and Equalities Committee recently published a report stating that ageism is widespread and culturally embedded in UK workplaces, making it socially acceptable compared to other forms of discrimination. Unlike explicit hiring discrimination, cultural biases are subtle, ingrained, and often go unchecked, making them even more difficult to challenge without structural workplace reforms.

A big part of this issue is because Age Similarity Preference (ASP) exists, leading to recruitment decisions shaped by unconscious bias:

• Affinity Bias – Hiring managers naturally feel comfortable with candidates who share similar backgrounds, experiences, or age groups, unconsciously favouring younger applicants over those with more experience.

• Mirror Effect – Individuals tend to hire people who reflect themselves, believing they will be easier to work with or better fit the team culture.

  
  

Sound familiar. The “better fit for the team” excuse is often used to justify exclusion, yet it’s just another form of age discrimination and it’s illegal.

Without intervention, these biases will continue to shape hiring practices, leaving older workers systematically excluded from opportunities they’re more than qualified for. Instead of building workplaces fit for the future, businesses are stuck in monoculture mode and just like with monocrops, we know where that leads.

Together, We Can Create Change

If you’ve experienced age discrimination, please fill out our short survey—because you’re not alone, and together, we can change this.