Age discrimination, Thai women in their 40s

[Peterw42]

My wife is 45, stills looks young and slim etc. She is in the process of looking for a job, shop assistant, condo office, hotel reception etc. (all jobs she has done before and has experience)

 

She doesnt even get in the front door or bother applying because as she says, they only want girls under 30. I thought this was just her carrying on but it turns out this is a real thing. 

I can understand wanting a young pretty to sell beer etc but even back office jobs appear to only consider under 30. All the usual qualities that usually get you a job, experiance, maturity, honesty, you are done with partying and boys etc, appear to not get you the job in Thailand.

 

Have other come across this age discrimination ?

 

 

[soalbundy]

Yes, happens to my missus as well but they are to blame themselves with their attitude, missus is 44 years old and considers herself as an old woman.

[pgrahmm]

My wife's in her 40's & considers herself "old" now....Still looks & acts young & vibrant.....

She worked in management for a very large, multi national company (TH) for 17 years - 1.000s employed.....Very few of the gals (not sure on the men) make it to their 40th bday....

It's worse in the PI's many turn off the hiring in the mid 20's....

[Peterw42]

3 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Yes, happens to my missus as well but they are to blame themselves with their attitude, missus is 44 years old and considers herself as an old woman.

Yes, there is certainly an aspect of that thinking, my wife truly considers herself older than she is. I am always pulling her up when she says too old for swimming, dancing, out past 9pm. Over 40 in Thailand is the same as over 60 in western countries.

[pagallim]

I think that part of the problem is that she is possibly older than the individuals who would be her supervisor/manager, and a possible conflict with the deference typically shown by Thais to their elders.

[Dmaxdan]

23 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Have other come across this age discrimination ?

Yes. Banks are a classic case in point. You hardly ever see any staff working the counters who are much over 30. And they are nearly always of a certain standard of attractiveness.

[1FinickyOne]

When my wife first came to USA - - she noted the 70+ yr old fellow working in the parking lot returning carts for the supermarket... she thought this was great that he could find work. 

 

I thought it a bit sad that he had to.. 

[Peterw42]

2 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

My wife's in her 40's & considers herself "old" now....Still looks & acts young & vibrant.....

She worked in management for a very large, multi national company (TH) for 17 years - 1.000s employed.....Very few of the gals (not sure on the men) make it to their 40th bday....

It's worse in the PI's many turn off the hiring in the mid 20's....

My wife the same, she often refers to herself as "an old girl". Even though I point out the real old Russian ladies by the condo pool.

[CharlieH]

Yes I have seen/heard this before, most older women 40+ seem to end up as "mare bahn" house/office cleaners etc. the bottom end of the job market.

 

I was also informed once that they dont like older workers as they dont want to get into longer service (redundancy/pensions etc) and will even fire people as they get older for the same reasons.

[Peterw42]

5 minutes ago, pagallim said:

I think that part of the problem is that she is possibly older than the individuals who would be her supervisor/manager, and a possible conflict with the deference typically shown by Thais to their elders.

I hadn't considered that but it makes sense, cant have the boss addressing the worker as P and waiing their elder.

[BritManToo]

32 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

I can understand wanting a young pretty to sell beer etc but even back office jobs appear to only consider under 30.

The employers/manager want women available for sex.

 

[BritManToo]

12 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

My wife's in her 40's & considers herself "old" now....Still looks & acts young & vibrant.....

She worked in management for a very large, multi national company (TH) for 17 years - 1.000s employed.....Very few of the gals (not sure on the men) make it to their 40th bday....

It's worse in the PI's many turn off the hiring in the mid 20's....

Slightly off topic,

Nobody in the UK wants to employ people over 40 either (men or women).

When I was just over 40, I looked around me at my office in London and realised apart from senior management, I was the oldest person they employed. At 45 I accepted redundancy, never to have a full-time job again.

 

It's the way the world is moving.

 

[Peterw42]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

The employers/manager want women available for sex.

 

I believe there are also female employers/managers, especially in offices.

[Peterw42]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Slightly off topic,

Nobody in the UK wants to employ people over 40 either (men or women).

When I was just over 40, I looked around me at my office in London and realised apart from senior management, I was the oldest person they employed. At 45 I accepted redundancy, never to have a full-time job again.

 

It's the way the world is moving.

 

I agree but its often a little different in the west, the old person never learnt computers, never got a degree, is missing a skill set the younger person has. 

In Thailand you could be highly skilled but the unskilled 20 year old gets the job.

[aircooledflat4]

 

29 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

back office jobs

Dunno if Thais can think outside the square but you could suggest she turn up to interview with freshly baked scones with jam and cream, or donuts or whatever... preferably something that wafts through to the back office. Might pique their interest?

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

I agree but its often a little different in the west, the old person never learnt computers, never got a degree, is missing a skill set the younger person has. 

In Thailand you could be highly skilled but the unskilled 20 year old gets the job.

I think you'll just need to accept your new status as ATM.

Her contribution has ended.

[soalbundy]

6 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

I believe there are also female employers/managers, especially in offices.

As he said, they want them to be available for sex

[roger buttmore]

23 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

When my wife first came to USA - - she noted the 70+ yr old fellow working in the parking lot returning carts for the supermarket... she thought this was great that he could find work. 

 

I thought it a bit sad that he had to.. 

Have you considered the fact he may want to do the job as a reason to get out of the house and be part of society?

[billd766]

27 minutes ago, Dmaxdan said:

Yes. Banks are a classic case in point. You hardly ever see any staff working the counters who are much over 30. And they are nearly always of a certain standard of attractiveness.

In my local branch of KBank I don't think any of the staff are under 30 and several of them are crackers. OTOH few of them can carry a conversation in English, but then again I cannot speak Thai due to partial deafness and a lot of tone deafness.

[Peterw42]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I think you'll just need to accept your new status as ATM.

Her contribution has ended.

Thats the other annoying aspect, she doesn't actually need a job, she has rental properties and other income, the job is for something to do.

[Peterw42]

1 minute ago, billd766 said:

In my local branch of KBank I don't think any of the staff are under 30 and several of them are crackers. OTOH few of them can carry a conversation in English, but then again I cannot speak Thai due to partial deafness and a lot of tone deafness.

It does makes you wonder if any of the pretties have any actual banking knowledge, nice smile and great legs but not great if they put your million baht in the wrong account.

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, Peterw42 said:

It does makes you wonder if any of the pretties have any actual banking knowledge, nice smile and great legs but not great if they put your million baht in the wrong account.

You are failing to understand ...........................

The bank doesn't care if they make a mistake with your money.

In fact no employer in Thailand appears to care if their staff can do their jobs.

[billd766]

2 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

It does makes you wonder if any of the pretties have any actual banking knowledge, nice smile and great legs but not great if they put your million baht in the wrong account.

I have been waiting a long time for that million baht to show up in my account but it hasn't happened yet.

[ezzra]

As if everything else is well and truly hunky dory in Thailand that we are complaining about discrimination and discrimination of age no less, for anyone who has been sound asleep for the last decade or two, Thailand is still far, far away from any equality concerning just about any walks of life here...

[Hanuman2547]

Age discrimination has been alive and well for over 40 years in Thailand.  It is nothing new and probably will never change.  The biggest reason for this is that companies want to employ younger people so they don't have to pay them as much.  Thais in general do not value the age, wisdom, and experience that an older worker brings to the table.  Now before anyone goes off and says, "I know khun Somchai/Somrudee who is 55 and is......." yes there are always exceptions to the rule.  It just makes finding a job much more difficult for an older worker in Thailand.  

[Puchaiyank]

Generally speaking, Thai women are introduced to sex very early...are seasoned veterans before 25 and considered undesirable by most Thai cultural standards by 30...grandma material by 40...and pretty much a nonexistent person after 50...

 

This cultural phenomenon carries over into the work place...  

 

Any questions?

[Fex Bluse]

2 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Have other come across this age discrimination ?

Yes. In the West, we try to police discrimination but here in Thailand, all forms of discrimination are acceptable to Thais. 

 

Part of the issue here is also one of economics and supply demand. 

 

At a macro level, Thailand's economy is not a knowledge based economy. There is very little demand for knowledge workers or smart people generally. Quality is not very important to many Thais. 

 

So, many work positions are simply handed to people who have the right connections or who have something that sells - like beauty. 

 

When youthful beauty has run out, which for most women, by Thai standards will be by 30 years old, there are few places to go. 

[Fex Bluse]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

As if everything else is well and truly hunky dory in Thailand that we are complaining about discrimination and discrimination of age no less, for anyone who has been sound asleep for the last decade or two, Thailand is still far, far away from any equality concerning just about any walks of life here...

Yeah, and with no I'll will intended toward OP, it's difficult for me as a farang to be concerned about Thai difficulties when the situation for farangs is far worse.

 

They are too clever already to learn anything from anyone outside Thailand, so let them suffer. 

[Orton Rd]

Sign at Amazon coffee shop- assistants needed aged 18-25, so over the hill at 26 for handing out coffee here.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I think there's truth to what the OP fears about the Thailand job market for older women....

 

My wife is approaching 40, has a professional occupation, and thus far has managed to change her employment several times as desired in past years without too much difficulty.... But I think that's going to get tougher as she crosses the 40 mark in a couple years.

 

Also, I think it's going to vary from place to place based on the particular culture of the company. In my wife's current job, her company is headed by a woman, and her direct supervisor is a woman approaching 60. The company does have that as a kind of intended retirement age, but apparently allows those who want to work past 60 to do so pretty much at will.