One of the UK’s largest insurance groups is to replace the words “energetic” and “enthusiastic” in its job adverts, saying they put off older applicants.Phoenix Group, which owns Standard Life, said this was not because people’s enthusiasm waned with age.Instead, older workers often ruled themselves out of applying if they felt unwanted, it said.Phoenix said it wanted to take an inclusive approach in its recruitment, as first reported by The Telegraph – but it denied that it was banning certain words from job adverts.It said it wanted to replace words such as “innovative” in job ads to try to avoid discouraging older applicants.Instead it will say it is looking for competencies such as “contributing new ideas” or “problem solving”.Phoenix Group chief executive Andy Briggs, who is the government’s “business champion” for older workers, warned in February 2021 that some workers had been disproportionately hit by the pandemic.The insurer employs more than 7,000 people in the […]
Phoenix Group drops ‘energetic’ from job ads to woo older applicants
