The Cabinet Office has instructed HR Directors across Government to stop using the terms ‘digital native’ and ‘social media native’ in their hunt for candidates. This directive, issued via an internal email in late August, came to light in December 2024 through a subject access request.
The email, titled “Note on Wording in Job Adverts,” highlights concerns about the usefulness of the terms as well as the risk of age discrimination claims.
A senior figure in the Cabinet Office wrote:
We are aware of the use of terms such as 'social media native' or 'digital native' within job adverts. Whilst such terminology may have been used with good intent, these terms can be ambiguous and may be interpreted unfavourably when applied in the assessment of candidates. The term 'native' is not considered useful in setting the parameters of the evaluation of skills or experience. Some may perceive these terms as indicating a person born or brought up during a certain period, e.g., the age of digital technology or social media. Such perceptions could lead to complaints alleging an unjustified use of age-related criteria.
Therefore, we ask that you refrain from using these terms within job adverts and update relevant departmental guidance to ensure hiring managers are aware of this. Please make appropriate arrangements so that any external recruitment services you use are made aware of the above communication.”
The origins of the term ‘digital native’ date back to the early 2000s when educator Marc Prensky coined it to differentiate between ‘Digital Immigrants’, who grew up prior to widespread computer and ‘Digital Natives’, those born after the advent of personal computers. While the concept has been widely challenged, the Government Communications Service continued to use the term across various government departments, prompting the Cabinet Office’s intervention.
The email outlining the change of policy only emerged because it had been forwarded by a Civil Servant with the covering message, “Wonder what caused this one?! Imagine Mr Shuttleworth would be most pleased to see this” followed by a smiley emoticon.
From someone who spent the whole of 2024 trying to engage in a conversation with the Civil Service about the use of language in adverts, and having to embark on litigation to effect change, I find there is less to smile about.
In 2025, as my claim begins to be heard in the Employment Tribunal, I won’t be making further comments on my website but, I hope that by seeking a remedy to prompt the Government to launch a review into age discrimination, not only will the terms be removed, but the bias that informed their use in the first place, will be removed.