Does age discrimination prevent hiring the most suitable candidate?

The Työn uudistajat podcast dives into Finnish working life and its renewal – without ceremonial speeches or political jargon! In the latest episode, the host, StaffPoint’s CEO Anu Ahokas, talks with entrepreneur Reetta Rajala about age equality. Rajala shares why experienced employees are an excellent choice and what companies should do to eliminate age discrimination.

During her career, Reetta Rajala has founded CCEA Oy, which grew into the largest Nordic consultancy specializing in change implementation, worked as a CEO, and become a business angel. Today, her schedule is filled with work at her company Amua and as an interim executive.

About six months ago, another passion project took shape alongside her professional work. Rajala surprised even herself when she ended up founding a movement promoting age equality. It all started with a phone call that made her question which types of employees and job seekers are admired in Finnish working life.

“A headhunter called me and said I’d be an excellent fit for a CEO role but, in the same breath, mentioned that I was too old for the position. Then he asked if I could share my network instead,” Rajala recalls.

When Rajala shared this experience on LinkedIn, she was met with a flood of comments and messages. Intrigued, she continued the discussion on age discrimination, and eventually co-founded the movement 55 Rise and Shine, which works to ensure that people over 55 are not seen as “too old,” but as valuable, skilled professionals.

Recruitment should never be a careless shortcut

As Rajala has delved deeper into the issue, she has had to challenge her own assumptions. After researching the Finnish pension system, she concluded that it is not to blame for pushing people in their fifties toward retirement.

Another surprise came from discussions with headhunters, who often noted that candidates over 55 tend to struggle with writing strong job applications. They may fail to articulate their professional value clearly or to convincingly present themselves as the right fit for a role.

“When 55 Rise and Shine started, I thought the problem lay in legislation or that companies were simply discriminatory. Now I see it’s a complex, multifaceted issue that requires action from all of us.”

Despite having more than 15 working years left until retirement, people over 50 find it significantly harder to re-enter the workforce after unemployment than younger candidates. In StaffPoint’s survey, 70% of respondents over 55 reported experiencing age discrimination during job searches.

Rajala points out that in other Nordic countries, age has much less impact on employment opportunities — proving that attitudes and hiring practices in Finland still need change.

Through the founding of 55 Rise and Shine, Rajala has taken part in many insightful discussions about age discrimination, helping her understand the true complexity of the issue.

“I’ve learned a lot about recruitment and corporate responsibility. Recruitment shouldn’t be a quick, careless act — it should be a strategic process, where goals are defined and the search for the most suitable person is intentional. Every step of the process should take into account the possibility of age discrimination,” Rajala says.

Don't ask for candidates age

Reetta Rajala believes that when hiring new employees, companies should not ask candidates’ ages. However, simply removing age from application documents does not eliminate the risk of age discrimination.

Without actively challenging their own biases, recruiters can too easily rely on unconscious assumptions. Rajala recalls a moment from her career when she noticed an applicant’s birth year and thought they were too old for the job — until she realized the applicant was actually a couple of years younger than she was.

“If I think I can handle this job, why couldn’t someone two years younger? That was a turning point. I had to stop looking at the number.”

Rajala suggests that every company should set clear goals for the kind of employee they are looking for, as it helps focus attention on the right qualities.

“We should only look at a person’s experience, skills, and personality. Recruitment should be more strategic, a process built around truly understanding what we’re looking for,” she says.

Openness about a company’s age distribution forces a look at the numbers

In addition to promoting strategic recruitment, the 55 Rise and Shine movement encourages companies to openly discuss their workforce’s age distribution. Examining age diversity transparently helps organizations identify blind spots in their recruitment practices.

“What matters even more than publishing the numbers is the discussion that happens beforehand. Leadership must look at those distributions and ask what they mean, what’s behind them, whether we can publish them, and then make the conscious decision to do so. That process itself shows stakeholders that this issue truly matters to us. It’s not really about what the numbers look like,” Rajala explains.

Rajala also reminds that every industry naturally affects the age profile of its employees, so rigid goals or one-size-fits-all targets don’t work. Instead, she calls for curiosity, an openness to explore what age balance best serves each company.

For instance, one-third of StaffPoint Group’s white-collar employees are over 55 years old. These professionals handle business operations, recruitment, training, and coaching within the group. Among StaffPoint’s nearly 13,000 temporary employees working in client companies, around 5% are over 55.

Finland employs over 55-year olds less effectively than its Nordic peers

Age discrimination is a complex and emotionally charged issue, making it even more important to rely on data and research. Rajala says she’s often been asked to speak about older women’s supposed difficulties in the labor market, but she has declined, since research doesn’t support that claim.

“The statistics don’t actually show that women have it worse. Sure, men are more often in physically demanding jobs like construction or factory work, but those roles are constantly getting lighter as machines take on the heavy labor. It’s fascinating to consider what really explains men’s weaker position.”

The goal of 55 Rise and Shine is for Finns over 55 to be employed at the same rate as their Nordic counterparts. In 2022, the employment rate for 55–64-year-olds was 71% in Finland, compared to 83% in Iceland, over 77% in Sweden, and nearly 75% in Norway.

Rajala aims to strengthen age equality in Finnish working life by sparking ongoing discussion. Although the social media buzz has quieted, she says companies are showing more genuine interest in the issue.

“In the end, LinkedIn likes don’t really matter. What matters is that people, companies, and decision-makers have taken ownership of this topic. We need to make sure it continues.”

Rajala welcomes all forms of dialogue, even those with differing opinions. The best conversations, she says, help people question whether age truly matters when it comes to doing a job.

In practice, the best person for a role may sometimes be a young professional just starting out, and sometimes a seasoned expert in their fifties.

“If every company simply hired the person best suited for the job, we’d naturally end up employing people of all ages,” Rajala concludes.

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