When Algorithms and AI Become Excuses for Ageism

Jacqueline Freeman wrote an incisive piece on “youth-biased AI algorithms” weeding out job applicants aged 50 or older last summer. Then in the fall, Accenture’s CEO revealed they are “exiting” staff who “don’t have a viable path for skilling” in AI.

To me, these stories are connected.

What ties them together? Ageism.

Freeman’s piece provides a real-world look at what’s happening in today’s job market. Even though her story appeared in a UK-based publication, the points apply here in the U.S. as well.

“Men and women at the top of their game, with years of experience, just don’t tick the AI boxes” when they apply for new positions, she wrote. Often they don’t even get a reply,  ending up “ghosted.”

I have often said that ageism is a prejudice against our future selves. Freeman makes a similar point: Ageist hiring and personnel practices are undermining the future earnings of many companies.

“It’s a catastrophic loss to the workplace, because of what older workers bring that no algorithm can replicate: culture,” she writes. “We’ve seen enough to know what matters. We know when to speak, when to listen, and when to quietly fix what others haven’t noticed yet. That’s not just competence, that’s important cultural infrastructure.”

And as she looks toward the future, she asks an important question:

“We hear that automation is wiping out entry-level roles too …  meaning many of the youngest workers never get trained. So, if the young don’t get a chance at the start of their career … and the experienced are weeded out at the top, we need to seriously ask, what the hell is left in the middle?”

I would add on to Freeman’s piece by asking why so few seem to see the value of experience in the workplace.

As computer-driven algorithms, robotics and “smart” factories and devices proliferate, we’re actually going to need even smarter human beings at work. As AI and tech explode, we’ll need a greater degree of experience, perspective and judgment to use it effectively and not destructively.

Where are we going to find those qualities? Will it help if we follow Accenture’s lead and lay off employees who are deemed unable to “reskill” on artificial intelligence?

That sounds like code for pushing out older workers for younger, less expensive workers — just the opposite of what we’ll need in the industries of the future.

Organizations like Sugarwork understand this, and are focused on retaining older talent and their institutional knowledge. We need more of this.

As Freeman writes:

“This isn’t about making space (for workers in their 50s and 60s). It’s about refusing to waste it. … If you’ve got experience, own it – don’t shrink it.”