Inclusion Starts With Recruiters

Joanne Lockwood is joined by Jo Major to explore how inclusion in the workplace is shaped long before someone starts a job—at the point of recruitment. They examine why DEI can become performative in hiring, and what it takes for recruiters and agencies to move from statements and checklists to practical, systemic change.

The conversation looks at the constraints recruiters face—speed metrics, contingent models, limited access to hiring managers—and how these pressures can undermine equitable hiring. Jo argues for broadening the recruiter’s role from “filling seats” to consultative talent partnership: auditing job descriptions and career pages, improving employer branding and EVP, rethinking shortlisting and assessment, and using technology and AI to free up time for the human parts of recruitment.

They also spend significant time on age bias and the growing challenge of experienced workers, particularly women, struggling to re-enter the workforce. Joanne and Jo discuss confidence, job-search wear and tear, the need for better candidate coaching, and more innovative pipeline approaches such as mature apprenticeships, alumni programmes, and community-based talent development—so recruitment can better reflect and serve the communities it hires for.

One-sentence summary

Jo Major believes recruiters hold people’s dignity in their hands — and if they fail to challenge bias, especially around age, they quietly close the door on experience, confidence and purpose.

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Synopsis

Jo Major didn’t begin her career as an inclusion specialist. She was an agency recruiter for 17 years, someone who describes herself as “an ethical recruiter” long before she had the language of equity and accessibility. She cared about people instinctively — about their experience, their fairness, their humanity — but she also worked inside a system built on speed, sales targets and time-to-hire metrics. Over time, she began to notice the contradiction: recruiters say they work with people, yet often operate transactionally. She saw how easily the industry defaulted to sameness — “we all look the same” — and how that narrowness limited not just business outcomes, but human possibility.

What she is trying to change is not just hiring practice but mindset. Jo wants recruiters to step into their real power: to challenge coded language, to question short briefs, to invest in older workers who are quietly being sidelined, to slow down enough to see potential where others see risk. She worries deeply about the rising number of over-50s struggling to return to work. She calls ageism “one of the most commonly accepted forms of discrimination”, and she cannot accept that lived experience is treated as liability rather than strength. For her, inclusion begins at the point of entry — and recruiters are the gatekeepers.

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10 Small, digestible concepts for easy learning

1. Speed can silence fairness.

When success is measured by time-to-hire, equity becomes an inconvenience.

2. Representation matters behind the desk too.

If recruiters don’t reflect the communities they serve, barriers become invisible.

3. Ethics without knowledge isn’t enough.

Good intentions need skill, structure and courage to make change.

4. People are not products.

You can’t “sell” a human the way you sell a car — dignity changes the equation.

5. Bias hides in code.

Ageism rarely announces itself; it slips in through “culture fit” and “energy”.

6. Confidence shapes inclusion.

Insecure managers often fear experienced hires instead of valuing them.

7. Unemployment erodes identity.

Job searching isn’t just logistical; it chips away at self-worth.

8. Potential doesn’t expire at 50.

Experience is adaptability, resilience and perspective — if someone chooses to see it.

9. Technology should free us to be human.

AI should create space for care, not replace it.

10. Recruiters are more powerful than they think.

They don’t just fill roles — they shape who gets to participate in society.

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The “why” in the story

What they believe is true about people

Jo believes people want to contribute. That work gives purpose. That most individuals — given support — can evolve, retrain and thrive.

What they cannot unsee

She cannot unsee the steady rise of talented, experienced professionals — particularly women over 50 — being frozen out of employment.

What they are no longer willing to tolerate

She is no longer willing to accept ageism as normal or recruiters hiding behind “the client said so”.

What they are trying to build instead

A recruitment profession that is advisory, brave and community-minded — one that invests in people, not just placements.

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Narrative structure

1. The trigger

Years inside agency recruitment showed Jo the limits of a system obsessed with speed and sales. But it was seeing capable, experienced professionals — “especially women” — struggle to return to work that sharpened her focus. Age bias wasn’t theoretical; it was visible.

2. The tension

Recruiters operate under pressure: tight timelines, narrow briefs, clients who may not want to be challenged. Raising inclusion can feel political, risky, “a conversation we haven’t been invited to”. Many fear pushing back.

3. The insight

Inclusive hiring isn’t an add-on; it’s the very expertise that will keep recruitment relevant. When CVs are automated and AI screens candidates, the human advantage becomes judgement, courage and care.

4. The pivot

Jo chose to equip recruiters — not shame them. She reframed inclusion as professional capability. She encourages proactive audits, braver conversations, deeper strategy work and greater investment in underserved talent pools.

5. The destination

A world where a 55-year-old woman is not seen as a risk. Where recruiters confidently challenge bias. Where work is accessible across generations — and people wake up with purpose intact.

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Five key takeaways and learning points

1. Ageism is hiding in plain sight.

We all age — yet we normalise discrimination against experience. The impact is economic and deeply personal.

2. Recruiters are gatekeepers of belonging.

Who gets shortlisted determines who gets to participate. That responsibility is bigger than commission.

3. Good intentions don’t counter bias.

Without structure and confidence, fairness stays performative.

4. Unemployment is more than a gap.

It affects confidence, identity and mental health — especially over time.

5. Inclusion is a long-term project.

Pipeline building, community investment and retraining require patience — but they create stability.

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Ten distinct ideas explained

1. Age bias as accepted prejudice

Age discrimination slips by unchallenged because everyone assumes decline. The emotional cost is shame and invisibility.

2. The insecurity of hiring managers

Younger managers may fear hiring older professionals. That fear constrains teams and stifles knowledge transfer.

3. The erosion of confidence through job search

Repeated rejection narrows a person’s sense of self. Silence feels personal, even when it isn’t.

4. Ego versus reinvention

Career pivots often require pride to be set aside. The shift is emotional before it is practical.

5. Experience as stability

Older workers often bring loyalty and steadiness — an antidote to constant churn.

6. The myth of “future talent”

Focusing only on youth assumes growth equals youth. It ignores immediate capability.

7. Recruitment as advisory profession

When recruiters act strategically — auditing, coaching, questioning — they elevate dignity across the system.

8. Technology as double-edged

AI can streamline, but without humanity it amplifies bias at scale.

9. Community responsibility

Developing talent pipelines isn’t charity — it’s shared societal investment.

10. Belonging through meaningful work

Employment is not just income; it anchors identity and contribution.

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How people should change as a result

1. Think

• Shift from “age equals risk” to “age equals perspective”.
• See recruitment as influence, not administration.
• Question whether “culture fit” is just comfort with sameness.
• Recognise unemployment as an emotional journey, not just a logistical one.
• Understand that inclusion requires courage, not just policy.

2. Feel

• Move from defensiveness to curiosity about bias.
• Replace quiet resignation with responsibility.
• Shift from fear of challenging clients to confidence in expertise.
• Exchange pity for respect when thinking about older workers.
• Hold empathy for those navigating long job searches.

3. Act

• Challenge coded language in job briefs (“energetic”, “digital native”).
• Spend longer in intake meetings — ask why, not just what.
• Offer structured feedback to rejected candidates where possible.
• Create or support mid-career retraining initiatives.
• Track age data alongside other diversity metrics.
• Host conversations with clients specifically about generational teams.
• Invest time in mentoring one job seeker outside your immediate commercial pipeline.

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One thing to remember

If recruiters decide who gets through the door, they also decide who feels valued in society.