Picture Sarah Martinez, a 61-year-old marketing director with 25 years of glowing performance reviews, being told she’d been “restructured” out of her role. Her experience is not unique, as thousands of seasoned workers find themselves victims of age discrimination buried beneath company practices and cultural change.
A 2023 AARP study on work and jobs found that 78% of older job applicants have encountered workplace bias they identify as ageism. Despite federal laws prohibiting age discrimination, subtle practices often encourage experienced employees to retire prematurely. This costs the workforce $850 billion annually in lost productivity and expertise and also erodes valuable institutional knowledge. Here are 12 key roles where the skills and experience of older workers remain invaluable and in high demand.
Technology and Software Development
Silicon Valley’s fixation on youth creates harsh challenges for older tech workers. Many major tech companies boast average employee ages well below 35 years old. For instance, Google’s average employee is 30, while Facebook’s is just 29, according to PayScale’s 2023 industry analysis. Seasoned developers often report being sidelined in hiring processes that prioritize “cultural fit” over technical expertise.
Additionally, companies frequently reorganize teams when adopting new technologies, using these shifts as an opportunity to replace higher-paid, experienced developers with younger, less expensive talent. The rapid pace of technological change conveniently serves as justification for marginalizing veteran professionals, despite their decades of problem-solving expertise.
Retail Management and Sales
The high energy, mobility, and long hours of the retail industry present significant challenges for workers over 60 years old. Department stores and chain retailers favor young managers who are willing to work around flexible schedules to cater to, for the most part, younger consumers.
Store managers say they feel pressure to hire associates who are a “good fit with our brand image,” code language that is clearly ageist. Employment in retail trade remained relatively stable between 2019 and 2023, at approximately 15.6 million in both years, adjusted for seasonal variations.
Airline Flight Attendants
Commercial airlines have policies around age that essentially force flight attendants into retirement at 60. Airlines cite safety regulations and customer service expectations, although federal law eliminated mandatory retirement ages for nearly every job in aviation decades ago.
Let’s face it, flight attendants are tasked with upholding image expectations that are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain as time marches on. They also subtly nudge workers toward early retirement with benefits packages that appeal especially to employees over 55.
American Airlines, whose workforce advanced in age when it acquired TWA in 2001, permitted some employees aged 45 to 55 with enough seniority to retire early, with lump-sum payouts and pass benefits. The physical rigors of the job — including lifting luggage, standing for hours, and managing medical emergencies — make airlines’ arguments that age-based hiring preferences are justified by safety concerns a fair point.
Restaurant and Hospitality Services
High-end restaurants and uptown bistros alike tend to employ younger servers, explaining that they need employees who can keep up with fast-paced work environments and connect with a younger demographic. Restaurant managers say privately that older servers are increasingly offered fewer hours and less desirable shifts until they opt to leave.
The prevalence of shallow, youthful attention given to people in the hospitality industry creates informal age barriers around the age of 50 for front-of-house roles. Hotels also favor younger front desk staff and concierges, assuming that guests prefer to do business with proactive and attractive employees.
Advertising and Marketing Agencies
The big creative agencies prize youthfulness and cultural relevance over experience and strategic thinking. Agency heads often love restructuring teams when new digital marketing initiatives are announced, using those opportunities to bring in 21-year-olds who can keep them up to date with the latest social media trends.
Workers aged 45 and above are often excluded from client meetings and creative sessions, relegated to administrative duties, and eventually laid off. This project-based framework in the industry enables agencies to maintain a systematic approach to phasing out aging employees without any explicit discrimination being visible.
Customer Service Representatives
Call centers and customer service work, in particular, increasingly require younger employees who learn new software programs with ease and can bring the same level of energy to repetitive tasks hour after hour. These feelings are supported by performance statistics and customer satisfaction scores that the companies themselves rely on for success.
Older agents may come under suspicion due to their typing abilities and dexterity with multiple computer systems. Managers say younger workers do a better job of handling complex or demanding customers and new technology and protocols. The increase in remote operator positions has created a more competitive market, one in which companies have an upper hand when it comes to age and technological skills.
Physical Therapy and Healthcare Support
Hospitals are seeking athletic ability and technical expertise from their assistants. Hospitals and clinics are increasingly preferring younger physical therapists and medical assistants, recognizing the physical demands of patient care and the need for proficiency with electronic health records.
Experienced nurses claim they are overlooked for promotions and that their patient-interaction styles are being more closely monitored. Older nurses have encountered pernicious stereotypes regarding their competence and ability, which shape workplace dynamics and underscore their ever-limited professional recognition and opportunities.
The industry’s attention to the twin mantras of productivity and cost savings highlights the need to employ younger workers with lower salary expectations and a perception of being more comfortable with the rapidly evolving medical technologies in place. Age-based hiring preferences are exacerbated by Medicare reimbursement pressures.
Real Estate Sales
Networking, technology, and flexible schedules are the watchwords of the real estate industry, and all can be insurmountable challenges for agents who are over 60. Brokerages prefer younger agents who utilize social media marketing and demonstrate comfort with virtual showing technologies introduced during the pandemic.
Veteran agents are being shut out of team-oriented sales arrangements and other highly sought-after listing opportunities. Brokerage is commission-based, putting pressure on older agents in subtle ways, such as scaling back support services or sending fewer referrals their way.
Banking and Financial Services
Banks are increasingly prioritizing digital literacy and sales objectives, which favor younger staff members more familiar with mobile banking technology and social media marketing. Regional managers feel compelled to hire employees who can effectively sell digital products without scaring off customers.
High-ranking bank employees are increasingly being marginalized into back-office positions or encouraged to take early retirement packages. At the same time, the industry’s mania for efficiency and cost savings provides the incentive to drive out experienced tellers and loan officers and replace them with younger, less expensive models. Financial services companies rationalize the moves by arguing that they require employees familiar with cryptocurrency, mobile payments, and digital investment platforms.
Administrative and Executive Assistant Roles
Executive assistant positions in the modern era demand the kind of tech savvy and flexibility hiring managers often associate with younger candidates. Employers want assistants who are adept at cloud-based collaboration tools, as well as who can manage social media and coordinate virtual meetings. A recent survey reveals that nearly one in two recruiters believe those aged 57 and over are ‘too old’ and hold perceived attitudes towards technology usage and flexibility.
Senior practitioners are finding themselves excluded from interview pools for roles that require a ‘digital native’ or ‘high-energy’ personality. The trend of executive assistant roles is building towards project management and strategic support, and easy excuses for age-based hiring. High-end executive search firms will privately admit that clients typically request senior administrative candidates who are younger than 45 years old.
Journalism and Media Production
Newsrooms and media outlets systematically eliminate older journalists through buyout packages and staff reductions. Older reporters struggle to keep up with their younger peers, who grew up with social media engagement and digital storytelling formats that they are unfamiliar with, according to media executives.
Veteran reporters are shut out of big stories and investigations. The financial crisis in the industry is a convenient excuse for laying off older workers who earn more, often due to layoffs and buyouts.
Event Planning and Coordination
Event planning firms are increasingly focusing on social media marketing and technology integration, which hiring managers attribute to the growing influence of younger professionals. Planners feel the pressure to understand how Instagram marketing works, how to utilize virtual event platforms, and what the digital engagement strategy should be.
Veteran event organizers say they are being shut out of significant programs and commercial discussions even though they have long-term contact networks in the sector. The profession’s enigmatic focus on creativity and cultural currency also opens the door to justify hiring younger practitioners who presumably get today’s trends and tastes. Companies sometimes even ask for younger event staff who can relate to millennial and Gen Z attendees.
Key Takeaways
These 12 industries are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to systemic age discrimination that is costing us all, in terms of both individual lives and society as a whole. Workers 60 and older possess decades of institutional knowledge, problem-solving proficiency, and professional networks that companies often overlook in favor of what are often illusory cost savings and cultural preferences.
In fact, organizations that pursue age diversity outperform those that focus solely on youth, with lower turnover, stronger customer relationships, and more effective mentorship programs that benefit both young and old workers alike. The challenge is not just one of legal enforcement, but also a cultural transformation that regards experience as an asset, not an expensive liability.
Disclaimer – This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information. It is not intended to be professional advice
16 Grocery Staples to Stock Up On Before Prices Spike Again
16 Grocery Staples to Stock Up On Before Prices Spike Again
I was in the grocery store the other day, and it hit me—I’m buying the exact same things I always do, but my bill just keeps getting higher. Like, I swear I just blinked, and suddenly eggs are a luxury item. What’s going on?
Inflation, supply-chain delays, and erratic weather conditions have modestly (or, let’s face it, dramatically) pushed the prices of staples ever higher. The USDA reports that food prices climbed an additional 2.9% year over year in May 2025—and that’s after the inflation storm of 2022–2023.
So, if you’ve got room in a pantry, freezer, or even a couple of extra shelves, now might be a good moment to stock up on these staple groceries—before the prices rise later.
6 Gas Station Chains With Food So Good It’s Worth Driving Out Of Your Way For
6 Gas Station Chains With Food So Good It’s Worth Driving Out Of Your Way For
We scoured the Internet to see what people had to say about gas station food. If you think the only things available are wrinkled hot dogs of indeterminate age and day-glow slushies, we’ve got great, tasty news for you. Whether it ends up being part of a regular routine or your only resource on a long car trip, we have the food info you need.
Let’s look at 6 gas stations that folks can’t get enough of and see what they have for you to eat.
