Norwegians lead the way in terms of a balanced view towards age discrimination, while Germans observed the highest percentage of discrimination against older workers when looking for new recruits, according to a poll by Monster.

The poll revealed that while 46% of workers across Europe believe their organisations discriminate against older workers when it comes to looking for new recruits, 24% of workers feel their organisation takes a balanced approach.

Mature German and Spanish workers appear most likely to be discriminated against, with 59% and 54% of those polled respectively citing that their organisation is biased against older recruits. In contrast, only 22% of Belgians polled and 35% of French respondents answered that their company has a similar attitude.

An inclusive approach of recruiting across a wide range of age groups appears most prevalent in Norway, with 41% polled stating that their company has a balanced view towards the ages of their recruits. This is closely followed by Danish workers with 40%, Irish workers on 35% and Belgians on 33%.

It also found that 14% of those polled stated that their company discriminates against younger potential recruits. Young jobseekers in Belgium look set to face the toughest challenge in getting past age prejudice, with 32% of Belgians saying that their organisation discriminates against younger workers, followed by 24% of Luxembourg workers polled.