Age Discrimination at Work: How Employers Push Older Workers Toward Retirement—and How to Resist

“When are you looking to retire?” It may seem like a harmless question for a boss to pose to an employee, but for older workers, it can come with a coded message—it’s time for you to end your career.

“There could be insinuations, like, ‘What are you looking to do after this?’ Or, ‘how long do you anticipate being here?’” says New York-based employment lawyer Mahir Nasir, who’s had multiple older clients come to him with scenarios of getting nudged toward retirement.

He’s seen this play out in various ways. For instance, say an employee’s been working at a bank for 20 years, during which they’ve established strong relationships in the specific territory they’ve been serving. “Because [the employer] can’t really find any performance issues, but they’re concerned about the cost” of that long-time employee’s salary, Nasir says, “they will move that person out into another territory where they don’t know anybody.” Then, their performance will suffer—giving the employer an excuse to let them go.

This type of ageist discrimination is technically illegal, but that hasn’t stopped employers.

According to survey results AARP published in January, nearly a quarter of respondents ages 50 and older felt like they were being “pushed out of their jobs,” while 60% reported experiencing “subtle forms” of ageism, such as assumptions that they aren’t knowledgeable about technology or getting passed over for new training opportunities.

Making matters worse for older employees who plan to keep working is that employers often believe nudging these workers toward retirement is in their best interests.

“There’s this assumption that when you hit 60 or 65, you’re looking to retire,” says Colleen Paulson, founder of Ageless Careers, where she provides career consulting to baby boomers and Gen X. However, per a poll she conducted last year on LinkedIn that garnered 2,472 responses, 26% of respondents said they didn’t ever plan to retire, suggesting that assumption no longer reflects employees’ realities.

“As we live longer, more and more people are looking to work longer,” Paulson says. But facing this type of ageism, often from long-time employers, can be so disheartening to employees that they’ll end up looking for new jobs or acquiescing into retirement anyway.

The “big red flags”

The ways employers nudge older workers toward retirement range from outright asks about post-career plans to more discreet hints that they’re no longer valued.

“They’re not being considered for promotions. They might not be considered for upskilling opportunities that other employees are being considered for,” says Carly Roszkowski, vice president of Financial Resilience Programming at AARP.

Roszkowski has also heard from older employees who witness discouraging hiring patterns at their companies, where only workers in their 20s and 30s are getting job offers.

Paulson has seen this play out multiple times, having witnessed Fortune 500 companies let go of experienced talent, and then, “literally in the same week, advertise on LinkedIn that they’re hiring,” she says. With those hiring announcements, she adds, they’ll post photos of people who appear to be in their 20s and 30s.