Three quarters of workers here have claimed that their workplace has an issue with discrimination, a new survey has found.
Among that group a third said they had personally experienced the issue, while 27% said they had witnessed and experienced the problem in work.
Gender discrimination remains the most prevalent form, referenced by 36% of those who responded to the research by Matrix Recruitment.
This is an increase from 25% last year.
Age discrimination was the next most common form, cited by a third of respondents, followed by ethnic discrimination, mentioned by a quarter.
The annual Workplace Equality Report also found that more than half of workers here said their career progression has been hindered by discrimination.
While 77% said they had left or had considered leaving a job because of it.
"It is clear from our survey findings that discrimination remains a significant issue in Irish workplaces," said Rena Weld, Recruitment Manager at Matrix Recruitment.
"It's alarming to see how many people have either experienced or witnessed it firsthand, and that so many careers have been affected."
"Employers need to understand that they have a fundamental responsibility to address these kinds of issues in the workplace."
One if four of the 1,283 respondents also said far-right sentiment or behaviour had risen recently in their workplace.
Almost two thirds said this was in the form of discriminatory remarks or jokes.
While half said some of those they work with were minimising or dismissing verified facts related to discrimination of minority groups.
More than a third said colleagues openly opposed diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace, while almost a half said they noticed colleagues spreading misinformation, disinformation and/or conspiracy theories.
When it comes to age, almost three in four respondents said Ireland has an issue with ageism in the workplace.
That's down slightly on last year’s results, while the same number said people over 50 have fewer promotional opportunities compared to younger colleagues.
Among the minority who said over 50s don’t have as much to contribute to the workplace, more than half claimed older people are not as up to speed with technology compared to younger workers.
That represent an increase on last year, which in turn was up on the previous year.
The survey also found that 48% think younger people have more energy to bring to a job, while 44% claimed that older people are stuck in their ways.
"The notion that older workers are not as technologically competent as younger colleagues is not new, but it’s interesting to see how this perception has deepened over the past three years - this may be attributed to the increasing use of AI technology in the workplace," said Ms Weld.
"Over the past 12 months, we have really started to see how this new technology is changing our world of work and how job roles are changing as a result."
"Key to resolving this issue is to offer employees the opportunity to upskill and providing inhouse training to ensure that all employees, regardless of age, can get on board with these new ways of working."
