Age Bias is Still the Default at Work But the Data is Turning
5 58A mounting body of research is making it harder for companies to justify what most of them still do -- push experienced workers out the door just as they're hitting their professional peak. A 2025 study published in the journal Intelligence analyzed 16 cognitive, emotional and personality dimensions and found that while processing speed declines after early adulthood, other capabilities -- including the ability to avoid distractions and accumulated knowledge -- continue to improve, putting peak overall functioning between ages 55 and 60.
AARP and OECD data back this up at the firm level: a 10-percentage-point increase in workers above 50 correlates with roughly 1.1% higher productivity. A 2022 Boston Consulting Group study found cross-generational teams outperform homogeneous ones. UK retailer B&Q staffed a store largely with older workers in 1989 and saw profits rise 18%. BMW implemented 70 ergonomic changes at a German plant in 2007 and recorded a 7% productivity gain. Yet an Urban Institute analysis of U.S. data from 1992 to 2016 found more than half of workers above 50 were pushed out of long-held jobs before they chose to retire.
5 comments
Running into this right now, sort of (Score: 5, Interesting)
by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 ) on Monday February 09, 2026 @09:36AM (#65977534)
I am at the point I'm about to retire. At work, I keep having to remind people of this. I'm the one who has built up the knowledge base, and everyone comes to when they need something. I understand how all the parts work together, while most are focused on the piece they work on. I am constantly reminding upper management that I need to train people. People keep coming and going, learn then leave. And no one reads documentation, so that's not an option. Their all good people, and I'm sure they will handle it when I'm gone. We are constantly working on modernizing, which is great! Just need to make sure that they don't forget important parts.
Re:Running into this right now, sort of (Score: 5, Funny)
by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 ) on Monday February 09, 2026 @10:01AM (#65977576)
I'll record everything in 15-60 second clips and host it on TikTok. That or build it in Minecraft. Make them dig to locate the information!
Why worry about it (Score: 5, Informative)
by Viol8 ( 599362 ) on Monday February 09, 2026 @10:06AM (#65977584)
Once you leave it won't be your problem if management have been short sighted with the training and the company tanks. Most people don't stay at companies more than a few years now anyway as its been demonstrated many times in the last decade or so that people are norhing more than "resources" like paperclips to most companies, to be disposed off when profits dip.
Re:Running into this right now, sort of (Score: 5, Insightful)
by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Monday February 09, 2026 @10:13AM (#65977600)
A bit of unsolicited suggestion...
Start now and incorporate yourself. LLC or as I prefer a S-Corp.
Then when you retire, and they inevitably get lost and try to contact you...be ready to consult back to them 1099 at a few hundred dollars and hour bill rate.
This way, you'll get some good pocket money, they won't go down the drain AND if the bill rate is high enough they won't bother you for piddly shit....
Just a thought.....
Re:Running into this right now, sort of (Score: 5, Interesting)
by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:53PM (#65978028)
Because with a LLC, ALL of your bill rate is subject to employment taxes (SS and Medicare).
With a S-Corp you can legally bypass this.
Example, say you have a S-Corp you are sole employee and President/owner.
You have a bill rate that comes out to $100K a year.
You pay yourself a "reasonable salary"...let's say $40K as an employee. Out of that $40K you do the normal payment of employer and employee employment taxes (SS and Medicare)...
You pay yourself "dividends" of the remaining $60K.
At end of year you pay personal taxes on the remaining $60K, but you save yourself paying the considerable employment taxes on that $60K.
Yes, it's more paperwork but can be worth it, depending upon how much you're billing through your company.....
Hope that helps. There are other benefits, but that's the main one I ran one for.....