The Silent (and Unnecessary) Exit Today, I read a report from The Experience Advocacy Taskforce (EAT) and Advertising Industry Careers (AIC), highlighting a worrying, but unsurprising trend in Australia’s advertising and communications sector: a significant exodus of professionals over the age of 40. Shockingly, over 51% of these exits occur between the ages of 45-54. While many experienced professionals, like myself and Katrina Brangwin, have chosen to leave large agencies for other reasons, not everyone pushed out by ageism has the same opportunity to carve out a new path. This represents a deliberate loss of seasoned talent, reinforcing a bias that favours younger generations in the workplace and work that is informed by younger teams. We all know diversity is better for teams and better for the work. I posted about ageism a few months ago and was overwhelmed with responses from people sharing their stories and their dismay. Greg Graham of EAT warns that ageism is creating a silent talent drain that’s sapping the industry of invaluable experience. To stay competitive, and frankly relevant, the industry must prioritise the retention of seasoned professionals and eliminate bias. Age is an asset, not a barrier. #AgeismAwareness #TalentRetention #AdvertisingIndustry #AgeIsAnAsset #WorkforceExperience #TalentDrain #IndustryInsights #InclusiveHiring
Dr James Cowley
2mo
Well done Kieran…such an important issue….back around 2000 it was obvious this was starting to happen….I even wrote a book on it. But its got far worse since then and I see numerous very skilled older people outside of the workforce- we are crazy to let a big chunk of pur population go at a time when they could hugely contribute. Young brings wonderful energy, openess, speed etc. But to really build skills there is aneed for people to be able to be coached,mentored, on the job by people who have been around longer. Today “contextual knowledge” (ie seen it before; have you taken this into account; if you did this also it might work; didnt you know its been tried and failed many times etc etc)is crucial and sadly lacking as though every new experience, problem, challenge just exists at this point in time-so we hugely disadvantage younger workers by removing from the workforce the very way for them to be exposed to such contextual knowledge-ie older workers. Ive spent a lifetime building high achieving teams with amazing younger people-but one of the secrets is surround them with people from older generations if you want them to become very high achievers.
Anthony Lowe
2mo
Except, why would they want to go back? When someone in our industry gets to 45+ they have accumulated a set of skills, a depth of experience and an address book of contacts that allows them to set their own course and their own business (or partnership). Anyone can do it. The 'leavers' just need a little courage (and some guidance) to take the first step into entrepreneur-land.
Kelly Drew
2mo
Sadly it’s a trend across a number of sectors. I have a friend, senior tech product dev leader in his early 50s, with experience in multiple sectors and countries and he can barely get an acknowledgment of his outreach, whether through a recruiter or direct.
Edson Porto
2mo
It's always an essential conversation, Kieran M Moore FPRIA. It's very strange how most types of diversity are celebrated in the agency world, with this exception.
Lucinda Attrill
2mo
Just thinking of the wisdom and lived experience walking out that door.... 😔
Dominic Carrico
2mo
Thanks for sharing Kieran. Age bias absolutely needs to be spoken about and confronted openly by industry leaders.
Sandra Hogg
2mo
Spot on Kieran, thank you for joining the conversation and supporting The Experience Advocacy Taskforce in its mission to make ageism a non-issue for the next generation.
Andie Crawford
2mo
As somebody that proudly sits in the category called out for where 51% of exits take place from I couldn’t agree more Kieran. Age (and experience) is def an asset!
Good on you for raising this Kieran. I must say I have been extremely fortunate not to have experienced this. I do realise how lucky I am to work with the colleagues I have and my clients because there are lots of stories where this is not the general experience.