As an employer myself (but by no means a red hot expert on employment law) I think this advert is breaking the law because it is alienating all age groups outside of the school leaver age bracket. I have been advised in the past when recruiting to ensure I don't advertise for "young" or "dynamic" or other words that describe "youthful" individuals. As a result, I did have the very interesting and worthwhile opportunity to interview graphics people of all ages and experience, but still ended up employing a more youthful individual as I couldn't afford the older, more experienced individuals. I feel that I had to waste my time with interviewing people that I knew I couldn't afford to take on. Having met a lot of older graphics people, I would have loved to have taken one on and employed my "equal" but none of them would have worked for the limited salary on offer.
If I had been allowed to run my own business my own way, I would have advertised for a young individual with at least one year of experience simply because the salary I could afford to pay matches this criteria. It was not an ageist policy, merely one of simple economics. Had one of the older chaps been willing to work for the money then I would have had them immediately but they all made it clear once they knew what the salary was and that was that.
The ageism law is well meaning but it is also bloody impractical and often wastes lots of peoples time and effort for no good reason other than to keep the PC-heads satisfied. Older, experienced workers (of which I am on the brink myself) are valuable, worthwhile and important to any workforce but they tend to come at a price in my trade, and the up-and-coming yongsters of the trade are ultimately far more affordable! Simple financial facts of life when in business. So, all you oldies out there with millions of years of experience, stop wanting so much money!
