Are You Experienced?

 

Every once in a while, I simply shut the hell up at work and listen.

Now, sometimes you hear absolute drivel. But every now and again, somebody drops a little gold nugget into a conversation that gets the old grey matter working. Occasionally, it even inspires me to put pen to paper, quite literally. I might check facts and figures and, heaven forbid, even do a little research.

I know. Me, with my reputation!

If you enjoyed my blog Broken Promises, this one follows a similar theme. So sit back, grab your preferred beverage and... enjoy!

For years, many of us did exactly what workers were told would keep us secure. We turned up, learned every new system, accepted more responsibility and remained loyal.

Perhaps that should have been our first warning.

Most older workers aren't suddenly called into a meeting and told, "Sorry, you've become too old." It is usually much more subtle than that. Important assignments begin to disappear. Contact with senior management reduces. Decisions start being made without you.

By the time the official conversation takes place, the process may have been underway for months.

I know, because I've been there.

After 35 years with my previous employer, I received the golden bullet. I finished on the final day that the company was in administration. This was just after Covid, when plenty of businesses were themselves getting screwed, although perhaps not quite as comprehensively as some of their staff.

I lost roughly two-thirds of the redundancy payment I had expected.

Am I bitter? No.

But remember: a grudge is for life, not just for Christmas.

UK evidence suggests my experience was far from unique. A parliamentary inquiry concluded that ageism remained a significant problem in British society, particularly in recruitment. Research presented to the inquiry found that older applicants were 4.2 times less likely to be selected for interview than comparable 28-year-old applicants. The inquiry also heard that discrimination was not always blatant. Words such as "energy", "enthusiasm" and "dynamic" could effectively operate as code for the type of candidate an employer had in mind.

When I was finished, there were two others who were both slightly older than me. I had 35 years of service, and they weren't far behind.

Between us, more than a century's worth of experience and knowledge disappeared overnight.

They didn't care. They had removed from the balance sheet what they had been instructed to remove. We were simply the victims, and yes, that was exactly how it felt.

None of the senior managers was present on our final day. I suspect one or two thought I might kick off. Allegedly, I had that reputation.

In truth, I was simply relieved to be leaving after all the turmoil.

Looking back, I should probably have gone several years earlier, before I effectively aged out of the market for the work I had spent decades doing.

And that is the point.

When companies restructure, supervisory positions, department heads and layers of middle management are often the first things examined. Those positions are frequently occupied by people who have spent decades working their way up.

When organisations decide to "flatten" management structures, experienced workers can find themselves standing directly in the path of the steamroller.

There is also an uncomfortable financial reality.

Workers in their 50s and 60s can be among an organisation's higher-paid employees because they have progressed into more senior roles. They may also have accumulated additional annual leave and other benefits over decades of service.

If somebody is ordered to reduce payroll quickly, removing one well-paid, experienced employee can look more attractive on a spreadsheet than removing two cheaper, newer ones.

The problem is that spreadsheets are bloody terrible at recording experience.

An experienced employee knows which customer needs that little bit of extra attention. They remember why an obscure procedure exists. They know what to do when a problem occurs that nobody has seen for five years.

They know the building, the equipment, the history and, most importantly, all the little things that nobody bothered to write down because:

 

"C****’s) always known how to do that."

Then he disappears.

His salary appeared beautifully on the spreadsheet.

His knowledge didn't.

Experience can suddenly be viewed as an expense rather than an asset.

Nobody advertises a vacancy saying, "We'd prefer somebody younger." Instead, organisations talk about wanting "fresh energy", "new blood", a "digital mindset" or somebody who is a better "cultural fit".

All of those expressions can have entirely legitimate meanings.

But they can also conceal assumptions about age.

The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee heard evidence about persistent misconceptions surrounding older workers, including assumptions that they are simply waiting to retire, will not work as hard or will not want to learn new skills.

Interestingly, the same parliamentary inquiry heard evidence that an employer could expect an average of five years' service from somebody recruited over the age of 50, compared with two years from somebody recruited under 50. So much for the assumption that investing in an older employee automatically represents poor value.

One of my personal favourites was the assumption that I was some sort of technological Luddite.

To be fair, I actively encouraged that perception because I found it quite amusing.

The reality was that I probably knew our systems better than almost anyone.

Even now, I occasionally receive a phone call when my former employer encounters a particularly awkward problem.

Unfortunately for them, most of the people I actually liked have moved on.

So, I get the perfect revenge:

Learn the system. Learn the property.

If you don't, the knowledge gap never closes.

On the occasions when I return, I also notice the little things. Tasks that my team would have dealt with almost automatically simply don't happen anymore.

Those little things weren't written into procedures or captured on spreadsheets.

They were simply part of knowing the job.

And, in my opinion, the place is poorer for losing them.

Sometimes organisations stop investing in older workers before pushing them out.

Training invitations become less frequent. New software training goes to younger colleagues. Development opportunities go elsewhere.

Eventually, management points towards the older employee's supposedly outdated skills, despite having helped create the skills gap in the first place.

Promotions pass them by. Important projects are reassigned. Management quietly starts building its future around other people.

You still have a job.

But eventually the message becomes difficult to miss:

They no longer see you as part of the future.

In my case, I realised roughly six months beforehand what was coming.

Unfortunately, this was during the aftermath of the pandemic, when opportunities weren't exactly falling out of trees.

Thankfully, I found another job relatively quickly, within about six very nervous weeks.

But I won't pretend it was a particularly happy period of my life.

Perhaps the cruellest part is what can happen to someone's performance record.

You can receive positive reviews for years and then suddenly find yourself being criticised for things such as "communication", "adaptability" or "attitude".

The complaints can become wonderfully vague.

Sometimes there are perfectly legitimate reasons for someone's performance to deteriorate. Of course there are.

But sometimes you begin to wonder whether the evidence is describing a problem or constructing one.

A performance improvement plan should help an employee address specific problems. But when the expectations are subjective, the timescales unrealistic or the rules apparently applied differently to different employees, it can feel less like assistance and more like a carefully constructed exit ramp.

Responsibilities start disappearing.

Important projects are given to somebody else.

Eventually, the employee is left performing routine work.

 

Then, several months later, somebody announces that this diminished role is no longer required.

Amazing how naturally these things happen.

None of this means that every older person who loses their job has been discriminated against.

Companies fail. Positions genuinely become redundant. People of every age occasionally receive poor performance reviews because, frankly, their performance deserves one.

But age discrimination is particularly difficult because it can hide comfortably inside perfectly ordinary business processes.

Restructuring.

Modernisation.

Culture.

Succession planning.

Cost reduction.

Digital transformation.

All perfectly reasonable concepts.

Until they aren't.

In the UK, age is one of the nine protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010. Protection against age discrimination applies across employment and covers direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation. It can affect recruitment, training, promotion, redundancy and other workplace decisions.

Acas gives a particularly relevant example: a 55-year-old employee asks to attend management training to improve their prospects of promotion, but the manager refuses because they believe it isn't worth investing in somebody who might retire in a few years. That would amount to direct age discrimination.

That sounds remarkably familiar to the sort of attitudes older workers can encounter.

But proving what actually motivated a real-world decision can still be difficult. Employers rarely write down, "Colin is getting on a bit, let's get rid of him."

Patterns therefore matter.

 

Changing explanations. Age-related comments. Opportunities repeatedly going to younger colleagues. Training disappearing. Responsibilities being reassigned. A previously strong performance record suddenly becoming a problem.

One incident could mean absolutely nothing.

Several together deserve a closer look.

Employees should therefore keep lawful copies of performance reviews, awards and messages praising their work. Record dates, witnesses and the precise wording of genuinely concerning comments.

I did.

Did it save me?

No.

But it certainly made a few members of senior management nervous when they discovered they had underestimated me quite so spectacularly.

Obviously, don't walk out with confidential company information that you have no legal right to retain. There is a considerable difference between keeping your own employment records and helping yourself to the company filing cabinet.

Anyone who believes they have experienced age discrimination in the UK should also be aware that employment tribunal deadlines can be short. Acas provides advice and Early Conciliation is normally required before an employment tribunal claim proceeds.

There is another side to losing a job at this stage of life which people don't always appreciate.

The latest UK figures reinforce the point.

In April to June 2026, the employment rate among people aged 50 to 64 was 72.2%, compared with 85.1% among those aged 35 to 49. The economic inactivity rate was 25.7% for those aged 50 to 64, more than twice the 12.3% recorded among those aged 35 to 49.

Those figures do not prove that age discrimination is responsible for the difference.

Health, caring responsibilities, retirement and personal choices all play their part.

But they demonstrate the scale of the employment gap as people enter the later stages of their working lives.

Research from the Office for National Statistics into adults aged 50 to 65 who left work during the pandemic found that among those who had not returned but would consider doing so, only 18% were actively looking for paid work. That fell from 22% among 50 to 54-year-olds to 15% among those aged 60 to 65.

Some will undoubtedly have chosen retirement. Others will have been dealing with illness, caring responsibilities or simply a lack of realistic opportunities.

Whatever the reasons, once you leave the labour market later in life, getting back in can be considerably harder than people imagine.

And that brings us to money.

Losing your job at 35 can seriously disrupt your career.

Losing it at 57, as I did, can rewrite the remainder of your working life and your retirement.

There are fewer years available to rebuild savings, replace lost pension contributions or work your way back towards your previous salary.

A five-year plan can disappear overnight.

An Office for National Statistics study of people aged 50 to 65 who had left work during the pandemic found that money was an important motivation among those considering returning. Among those with a physical or mental health condition, 67% said money was a reason for considering going back to work.

Retirement?

I'd absolutely love to retire.

Unfortunately, I simply can't afford to.

We're a one-wage household, so we pick our battles. I'm not complaining about that. I've done it all my life.

It is what it is.

And for people my age, there is another rather important number.

The UK State Pension age is currently 66, and the legislated transition to 67 takes place gradually between 2026 and 2028.

Being pushed out of employment in your late 50s or early 60s can therefore leave quite a gap before State Pension age.

Health complicates things even further.

Private medical insurance isn't something everybody receives through employment. My current employer doesn't provide private healthcare at my pay grade.

 

If it did, I'd have had a new bloody knee a damn sight sooner!

But beneath the humour there is a serious point.

For somebody in their late 50s or early 60s, losing a job isn't simply about next month's wage.

It can affect savings, pensions, mortgage payments, family finances, health and the entire timetable somebody has established for retirement.

So, what should older workers do?

Firstly, don't panic because you've missed one meeting or received one disappointing review.

One event proves very little.

Patterns matter.

Responsibilities disappearing. Or as in my case overloading me with more wore work in the vain hope I would quit…wrong!

Younger colleagues repeatedly getting opportunities.

Age-related remarks.

Training drying up.

A previously strong performance record suddenly deteriorating without any clear explanation.

Those things together deserve attention.

More importantly, keep yourself relevant.

Update your CV.

Learn the systems.

Train.

Keep professional qualifications current.

Use new technology.

Build contacts beyond your employer.

And yes, learn artificial intelligence rather than complaining that it is coming to steal your job.

 

Maintaining a professional network isn't admitting that your current employment is going to end.

It's insurance against discovering, at precisely the wrong moment, that your entire professional world consisted of one employer.

The issue isn't going away either.

UK Government projections indicate that people aged 50 and over represented about 44.9% of the UK population aged 16 and over in 2016, rising to a projected 46.8%, or around 26.9 million people, in 2026. By 2046, that proportion is projected to reach 48.9%.

In other words, we're heading towards a position where nearly half of the adult population is over 50.

Britain cannot afford to dismiss all that knowledge, experience and capacity to work as though it were simply an inconvenient entry on a balance sheet.

There is also an uncomfortable lesson here about loyalty.

I worked damned hard during my 35 years at my previous company.

I sacrificed far too much family time doing it, something I genuinely regret now.

Nobody forced me.

I did it because I wanted to do the job to the absolute best of my ability and prove that I was the right person for it.

Ironically, when I first started, I didn't actually have the skill set for the job.

I learned it.

I worked bloody hard.

I learned to solve problems.

I learned to think on my feet.

Eventually, I earned the respect of colleagues, peers and the various companies and organisations I dealt with.

My ability to become pretty damn good at the job probably shocked me more than anybody.

And perhaps that's the greatest contradiction in all of this.

We were once told that experience, loyalty, knowledge and years of strong performance made us valuable.

 

Yet eventually those same years can make an employee appear expensive, resistant to change or simply easier to replace.

That doesn't mean loyalty is worthless.

It means loyalty should never be mistaken for security.

Work hard.

Be loyal if you choose to be.

Take pride in what you do.

But never hand an employer your entire identity, because one day somebody who has never met you may reduce 35 years of your life to a line on a spreadsheet.

I learned that lesson the hard way.

So, there you go.

Another "adult-themed" blog, and another one I thoroughly enjoyed writing, Is it still a tad long-winded? Probably, But once I had the wind in my sails, I was determined to see the bloody thing through to the bitter end.

Life hasn't always been plain sailing, but as I can increasingly see the finish line approaching, my ambition is relatively straightforward: get across it in one piece, enjoy myself just a little along the way and then spend my retirement annoying my wife.

In a good way, obviously.

It's remarkable how one small conversation at work can set your mind wandering and eventually turn into several thousand words.

I'll probably do the occasional serious one again, although my intention is to steer clear of them when I can.

There are some music blogs coming down the lineI just wanted to get this one over the line first.

So, until the next one...

Stay safe. Stay alive.

Toodles!