An analysis of how age-related signals appear in UK job adverts.

Start here if you want to understand how age-related signals appear in job adverts.

Description

This report presents Phase 1 of the Agents at Work research series, examining how age-adjacent language appears across UK job adverts.

The analysis explores how signals associated with age are embedded in recruitment language, including phrasing that may imply seniority, experience level, or career stage.

Using an AI-supported evaluation approach, the report analyses a large sample of job adverts to identify patterns in how these signals appear across roles and contexts.

Rather than relying on simple keyword detection, the analysis considers how language is used in context, allowing for a more nuanced view of how age-related cues are expressed.

What This Report Does

Phase 1 examines:

• the presence of age-adjacent language in job adverts
• patterns across different role types
• how language may imply career stage or experience expectations
• examples of phrasing that may signal exclusion or preference

The focus is on identifying and describing patterns in recruitment language.

What This Report Does Not Do

This report does not:

• assess real-world hiring outcomes
• determine employer intent
• provide compliance or legal judgements
• measure discrimination in practice

The analysis focuses on language patterns rather than outcomes.

Who This Is For

This report is intended for:

• researchers examining bias in language
• HR and recruitment professionals
• policymakers and governance specialists
• practitioners working with AI in recruitment or evaluation

Research Context

This report forms Phase 1 of the Agents at Work series.

It establishes the foundation for later phases, which examine how these signals are interpreted and how AI systems behave when making related judgements.

Why This Matters

Recruitment language plays a role in shaping who feels included or excluded from applying for a role.

Understanding how age-related signals appear in job adverts is a first step in examining how bias may be expressed and interpreted in practice.

Licence and Usage

© 2025 Imogen Hull – Beyond the Average

Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

The underlying methodology, agent design and analytical framework remain proprietary.