People Management has a proud track record in campaigning against age discrimination at work.
Ten years ago we were the first magazine in Europe – possibly in the world – to refuse to accept job advertisements which specified age limits. Today it’s unusual to see overtly ageist advertising, but a decade ago it was regarded as quite normal. So it was an incredibly brave decision on the part of my predecessor, Rob MacLachlan, and the then IPD to take a stand on this issue, particularly given how much of PM’s revenue comes from job advertising. It wasn’t just a token gesture – PM created a statement of best practice which almost all the leading recruitment advertising agencies of the day signed, spreading awareness beyond the pages of PM in a practical way.
Our fight didn’t start there, of course. If you visit the special age archive in this section, you’ll find campaigning articles on ageism going back 20 years to our predecessor title, Personnel Management. Over the past decade we’ve continued to raise awareness through news, features and regular columns, building up a rich resource for people management practitioners and helping other campaigning organisations, including the CIPD, Employers Forum on Age and the DWP, to get their message across to HR practitioners.
Legislation won’t solve the problem overnight, of course – a compelling business case which appeals to the enlightened self-interest of employers will be at least as powerful in combating discrimination as anything on the statute book – but today it feels as if we are turning a corner in this struggle. That’s why we’ve taken stock of what we’ve done, and brought it together in a form that we hope you’ll find works for you.
Steve Crabb
Editor, People Management