At what age does it become harder to be hired?

[summermidnightsun]

What the title says. Im only mid 30s at the moment but conscious as I get older it would be harder to find a job if I’m out of work. Especially for those who are not in senior or high skilled positions in this competitive market. I think my job will be made redundant in the next few years so wondering if I need to jump now.

me and a colleague were laid off. Both got other jobs at 55 and 57. I think attitude, how the job market is and luck has a lot to do with it. I know I was lucky but it has taken some people up to a year to get something after lay off.

I recently got a decent job age 60. The best advice I had was keep current. The mistake a lot of older people make is stressing their 25/30/35 whatever years of experience. Most of that experience is outdated and irrelevant. Technology and the workplace have changed so much. Keep your skills current, constantly learn/go on courses/ask for training/ be aware of developments and workplace cultural change. Don't hark back to 'how things used to be'. No one wants to know and it doesn't matter. The workplace of the present and the future do.

I don’t think at mid-30s or even mid-40s you need to worry too much. I had to find a new job at 50 and de-aged my CV as thought it would be an issue at that point.

Really agree with all of this.

I got a new job at 51 last year, so I think it depends a lot on industry and what they're looking for. I'm not going to go off on maternity leave and my kids are older so I'm actually a good age to hire IMO, but I know some people 50+ have been struggling and I think once you're senior and expensive it gets more challenging.

I am mid 50s. Recently struggled to get work after redundancy. Had to de age my CV and linkedin profile and self teach myself AI workflows etc. Also (and this may not be agreeable to many), lost weight and did all I could do look more current, no skinny jeans or high heels. I'm under no illusion that I look younger but hopefully more in tune with current styles and not obviously older. I am aware that I'm in risky territory now. I need to keep working for at least another 10 years before I can retire but im not sure employers will keep hiring me!

Everyone talks about things changing so fast. I've spent most of my working life in finance in small businesses. TBH I could have parachuted from 1997 to 2026 and the job is the same. Maybe PDF and email replacing royal mail and word - but it's not like we've gone from steam powered to jet.

Other industries may differ - but I think this is over egged - as a way of permitting age discrimination.

Having said that I got sacked last year, and am working at a lower level - BUT I have zero stress and don't have to give a fkk

I do my work competently, and walk out each day at 4:30!

Think it very much depends on your particular job.

Is it age so much as seniority as the two are conflated. There are less senior roles in general as most structures are pyramidal. Possibly less opportunities as people may hit a ceiling at say sub director level and not even want to progress further whereas most junior staff do.

When I was looking 2 years ago there were loads of junior roles but sod all management roles, I was out of work 6 months and eventually got lucky. This is regardless of age as anyone with management experience can be 30, 40, 50 but clearly proportionately there is an age seniority link.

"self teach myself AI workflows etc"

How did you do this?

I paid for a £20 per month claude sub. It's much better than free chatgbt. Within claude there's courses you do for free. Then once you've done that and you're comfortable, just spend weeks in claude working it out. Watch YouTube, tiktok videos etc. It depends on your job of course as to how useful it is but you want to able to say in interviews 'yes I use AI all day for x y z and it saves me so much time etc'.

Mid 50’s I always thought but if you have the experience maybe never.

My understanding that is why young people other end of spectrum cop it with the no experience line.

I have a lady who is 72 on my team at work and she has been there for 5 years now so was 67 when we hired her as a admin assistant.

she had retired her husband was very poorly and then died and she needed to top up her pension and wanted to get out to see people so she applied for a part time job it’s 22.5 hrs.

She’s a fantastic team member and when we advertise we always get a real mix of ages.

With age comes not just experience but also common sense and there is a sense of wanting to work and being part of the team here too and that shines thru.

With AI a lot of roles will sadly go in the future and it’s hard to know how things will be in 5 years never mind 20.

UK, about 45ish. Depends on who is interviewing. If they're older, they might be more accepting.

Overseas (if a professional and you're well qualified & experienced in your field) about 50.

After that, the interviews are less, and even if you're interviewed, if you're the oldest one interviewing, in all likelihood, you're out of luck.

I changed job at 52 last year

From what I hear from other women, over 50. No idea if that's true or not.

I was made redundant 2 years ago at 61 and found another senior marketing role within 7 weeks. I think I was lucky - right place, right time.
Generally it feels more difficult from late 50s onwards unless you have specific, in demand skills.
Being fit, healthy, energetic and known to the employer beforehand makes it easier to bypass AI systems that automatically reject anyone over 50.
In the current climate though, all age groups are struggling.

I agree it gets more difficult after 50, however, 4 women on my 10 member team are either on maternity leave or will go on maternity leave in the next 6 months. They will all take a year. They may or may not return full time. All of their roles will need to be covered and there will be much disruption to the team. The other mature woman and I are the only ones consistently there.
My point is that employers should make sure they have a workforce that is diverse in age as well as all the other ways.