UK
Is 35 past it?
26 February 2008
Thanks to age discrimination legislation, banks are said to be hiring older bankers with all the zeal of teenagers purchasing alco-pops. Is this really true?
A study by financial services recruiter Joslin Rowe suggests older people (ie, anyone aged 35+) now account for 18% of people changing jobs, up from 14% five years ago.
The same study suggests that people aged over 56 are also moving into new finance jobs more freely than before – these days, the 56+ contingent account for 0.5% of people changing jobs, up from 0.1% in the ageist days of 2003 (a 323% increase, as Joslin Rowe’s PR points out).
Putting aside for a moment the question of whether 0.5% really represents a new paradigm in anti-ageism, do banks really want to hire older people?
The answer, sadly, is no. The chief exec of one front-office search firm says there’s a 90 year-old somewhere in the City, and there might be a bond salesman who’s had the same job for 20 years somewhere else, but on the whole banks are still clamouring for the elixir of youth.
“It’s all about control – it’s much easier to control someone in their 20s than in their 40s and 50s,” he says.
And if you lose your job once you’ve hit a certain age? Don’t count on walking into another one quickly.
Figures from Fairplace, an outplacement provider, suggest it takes a redundant banker an average of three months to find a new job. For people aged 50+ that time is doubled.
A massive problem for investment banks and one that they are doing little or nothing to resolve. Rather than come to terms with the fact that there are capable individuals aged over 30 out there, most IBs are writing off individuals if certain boxes are not ticked / milestones reached by the time someone reaches a certain age. This attitude stems from front office but is also seen in hiring attitudes in ops and middle office. Incredible really considering the complete mess the industry has got itself into by not investing enough is local infrastructure and support (soc gen being a good example).
One of the reasons for this attitude in operations would be that a lot of the jnr managers are still in their 20's, hence there is real reluctance to hire an individual who is older and who may be a threat to the status quo.
The sell side really needs to sort its act here and work harder at the diversity initiatives. Its the responsibility of HR to make sure this happens but also about time that senior FO business heads started getting involved, rather than burying their heads in the sand and denying any resposnibility for the downstream process
Recruiter - IB 26 Feb 2008
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