British insurance company bans word ‘energetic’ from job posts to attract older employees

What can companies do to encourage older applicants? Asks Olivia Petter

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A major British insurance firm has banned the word “energetic” from its job advertisements in order to attract older workers.

Phoenix Group, which is valued at £6.8 billion and has 13 million customers, also stopped using the word “enthusiastic” in its job postings for the same reasons.

The company said it was intentionally avoiding using “younger-age stereotypical words” because it feared it would deter those over the age of 50 from applying.