Despite recent government drives to promote equality in the workplace, women and older employees will be the first to feel the effects of credit crunch redundancies, a charity spokesperson has said.
Independent charity The Age and Employment Network claimed that companies traditionally target these groups during job cuts and this will not change with recent events.
This was in response to recent figures calculated by Office for National Statistics which found that 9,000 fewer employees aged 50 and over were in employment in June than there were in March.
The figures also suggested a drop of 8,000 women in employment compared to only 1,000 men.
Solicitor for Thomas Eggar LLP Leon Deakin said that if this discrimination is occurring it is being executed "very subtly".
Mr Deakin warned companies: "Employees who have lost their job will find it increasingly difficult to find new work, meaning they may be more inclined to claim compensation for the loss they have suffered."
Labour's recently developed Equalities bill aims to create fairer conditions for previously overlooked groups, such as disabled employees and women.
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