63% of PR job ads contain age-coded language, audit finds

Sixty-three per cent of PR and communications job adverts contain at least one age-coded word or phrase, according to an audit of 100 UK adverts by Women in PR. The offending terms include 'dynamic', 'energetic', 'fresh thinking' and 'digital-first mindset' — language that signals assumptions about youth, energy, adaptability or cultural fit without ever mentioning age.

The finding lands directly on recruitment teams at a moment when AI tools increasingly screen applications against advert language. WiPR warns that youth-coded adverts give those tools a skewed picture of the ideal candidate, and experienced applicants risk automated rejection before a human reads their CV. The organisation has responded by launching No Right Age, a campaign with a free playbook calling on PR employers to change how they recruit, starting with the words they use.

What did the audit measure?

The audit covered agency and in-house roles and searched for 46 core terms: 34 raised through the joint Women in PR and Break the Silence Listening Labs (including 'digital native', 'youthful', 'rising star' and 'cultural fit') and 12 widely recognised youth-coded terms such as 'hungry', 'go-getter' and 'work hard, play hard'. It also flagged broader pace, energy and workplace-culture language such as 'always on', 'hit the ground running' and 'scrappy'.

The results break down as follows:

• More than one in five adverts (22%) used a core term, with 'dynamic' the most frequent, followed by 'fresh thinking' and 'energetic'.
• Pace and stamina language was the most common category overall; 'fast-paced' appeared in a quarter (25%) of adverts.
• More than a third (37%) set inflexible working requirements, such as fixed office days or out-of-hours availability.

Individually, these phrases look harmless. Listening Labs participants described how combinations of pace, energy, adaptability and cultural-fit language signal assumptions about who belongs, who counts as current, and how experience is valued.

How does AI accelerate the problem?

WiPR's 2025 research found women reporting ageism from as early as age 40, compared with 45 in its earlier research. The trajectory is not encouraging.

With AI now widely used to rank CVs against advert language, the group's concern is precise: without meaningful human oversight, AI turns existing prejudice into automated rejection. Candidates are excluded before their experience is properly considered.

"Ageism in PR isn't new. What's changing is the speed and scale at which bias can be repeated through AI," said Ginny Paton, President of Women in PR. "We have an industry that prizes expertise, yet too often treats experience as a liability. If AI is helping decide who gets through the door, a human must remain accountable for those decisions. And before employers post their next role, we're asking them to spend five minutes checking the language they're using. Because talent doesn't come with an expiry date."

What did recruiters report?

The Listening Labs — three sessions run jointly with Break the Silence in 2026 — involved 35 PR professionals, recruiters, career coaches and people involved in hiring. Participants repeatedly cited 'cultural fit', 'youthful', 'dynamic', 'energetic', 'gravitas' and 'finger on the pulse' as subtle signals about who is seen as current or desirable.

The recruiter testimony was blunt. Recruiters described clients telling them not to put older candidates forward, and hearing "too much experience" or "too expensive" when they did. Some advised experienced candidates to "botox" their CVs — removing dates or shortening career histories — in response to signals sent by employers. Participants also noted CVs are now written for AI screening as much as for people.

One participant put the economics plainly: "…at some point, the price tag that you pay for the grown-ups becomes less attractive than the experience you bring as a grown-up."

Participants contrasted PR with banking, the Big 4 consultancies and media, sectors where experience and seniority carry greater professional currency. The implicit question — why should PR be different? — hangs over the findings.

Jules Shelley, Chief Executive of Ellwood Atfield, added: "As recruiters, we regularly put brilliant, experienced candidates forward and hear 'too much experience' back. Often the bias is baked in before we ever see the brief, in the words used to describe the role or team fit. Changing those words and digging deeper into candidate motivations are the quickest ways employers can widen their talent pools, and No Right Age gives them the tools to do it."

For HR teams in PR and beyond, the playbook offers a low-cost first step: a five-minute language check before the next role goes live. Whether employers in a sector that prizes youth-coded energy will actually run it is the question the next audit will answer.