Age Positive, the Department for Work and Pensions campaign aimed at stamping out age discrimination, is encouraging individuals and employers in HR and recruitment to enter the 2004 Age Positive Awards.
The Awards, held across England, Scotland and Wales, will recognise and reward individuals and employers tackling social prejudices about age.
The campaign, spearheaded by the Minister for Pensions, Malcolm Wicks, also aims to raise awareness of the UKís changing demographics.
Growing older isn’t just a fact of life - it is now a growing trend in everyone’s working life, says Malcolm Wicks. People are working harder than ever to obtain the skills they need to compete in the job market. The aim of any sensible employment strategy is to find the right employee for the job - regardless of one’s age. All too often a birth date can stop someone getting the job they want and that isn’t right. Ultimately, you can’t put an age on true talent and businesses need to tackle age discrimination now to reap the rewards in the future.
Employer Champions of the campaign include organisations such as Barclays, BT, Eden Brown, Office Angels, Blue Arrow, Jigsaw Recruitment to name a few.
Alexandra Richens, PR & Marketing Executive at Office Angels said:
ìAt Office Angels we strive to offer a non-discriminatory recruitment service and have worked hard at promoting a positive approach to age diversity. Being an Age Positive employer has always been integral to Office Angelsí philosophy.î
Running for the fourth time, the Age Positive Awards invite entries in two categories:
Employer category: Employers who can demonstrate that they have a positive attitude towards age diversity in their recruitment, training or development
Individual category: An individual who can demonstrate how they overcame age discrimination in getting a job or in making a career change.
The closing date for entries is 21st May 2004 and an entry form can be obtained from http://www.agepositive.gov.uk. Winners will be notified by the 4th June and will honoured by the Minister for Pension, Malcolm Wicks, at the national awards ceremony in London on 24th June.
The Awards are the ultimate recognition for individuals and employers who demonstrate that it is ability not age that counts.
Age Positive launch national awards to find Britains age crusaders
The search is on for employers and individuals who are challenging ageism in employment.