Age Discrimination and Downsizing

This paper provides a brief review of the literature on downsizing and age discrimination. Results indicate that age discrimination during the downsizing process is difficult to prove, although many believe that it occurs frequently. The consequences of termination of older employees unfairly can be tragic for the older worker, with the likelihood that they will experience difficulties in obtaining comparable jobs and incomes. For the companies, too, badlymanaged and unethical discriminatory downsizing efforts can lead to decreased morale and productivity. Remedies include education about, and enforcement of, the ADEA. Current trends in demographics and job design may also help change the situation.

According to Alan Wolfe (1995), no society yet has managed to figure out what to do with people who are dependent and experienced at the same time. While this seems a vast overgeneralization, since there have been important roles for elders in many societies, it does seem true of

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igation for the company. As a consequence, companies tend to offer their employees additional benefits in order to encourage them both to voluntarily terminate and to sign a general release against all actual and potential claims. Consequences In looking at the consequences of age discrimination in downsizing efforts, there are a number of issues to be considered. The consequences of age discrimination need to be examined from three different perspectives  that of the employee, the organization, and society as a whole. The consequences for the organization of all downsizing can be quite negative. In general, downsizing efforts create tension throughout the organization and lead to reduced morale. Researchers indicate that downsizing which is unethically or poorly managed can also affect both productivity and profitability (Moskal, 1992). Indeed, some research has indicated that productivity actually decreases after downsizing, no matter how it is managed, while adding workers often is followed by an increase in productivity (Epstein, 1994). It is difficult to determine whether age discrimination within the overall downsizing effort creates additional problems. One can speculate that if employees suspect age discriminati
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Approximate Word count = 2451
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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