"Why do you pander to them?" This question kept being put to Marian Salzman, the boss of Havas pr, by her older workers in the days after the firm launched its latest recruitment advertisement. Featuring eager young things using snazzy mobile devices, the ad highlights the company's lack of hierarchy, and how recruits can choose their own work and talk back to their bosses, as they begin their "personal development journey". Although huge numbers of young people today are starting their working lives in one of the least welcoming labour markets in modern history, those with the right skills have never had it so good. Employers have become convinced that they are at the start of a period of famine, and that the best talent has to be won at almost all costs. Furthermore, in some rich countries older workers are retiring later, so bosses have a wider range of ages to manage.
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