Age discrimination not rife: recruiters

04.05.2011
When to comment on a legal case in the US involving a 58-year-old, who is suing outsourcer Infosys over alleged age discrimination in the hiring process, the company's opinion sparked a flurry of comments on our website.

Many disputed the recruiter's assertion that IT professionals aged 50 and over are harder to place; for example, one noted: "I am in my 30s and I have worked with plenty of people in IT in their 50s and even 60s (developers, DBAs, etc), and they are as good as anyone else, actually even better because they tend to be more mature and diligent."

Another said: "I am 64 and have 40-plus years IT experience, the last 20 as a project manager. I work freelance and have had no problems getting work, in fact I have had to turn down contracts."

The 64-year-old's working situation isn't uncommon, says Tom Derbyshire, information technology recruitment manager at Robert Walters.

He says they deal with more candidates aged 50-plus on the contracting side of the recruitment scene than on the permanent side.

"A big part of the contracting database is in that age bracket, whereas in the permanent space, we don't see a lot of people over 50," Derbyshire says.