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Your friend is right. Once someone reaches 50 it is harder for them to find employment if they've lost it for some reason. And why not? The older a person is usually the higher their wages. Where I worked if an employee of 30 years left they could replace that employee at no extra cost with two young, just-out-of-college, kids.

There is a good reason why it is against the law to discriminate against older people - it is because employers do and many can get away with it. It isn't easy to prove. Many unscrupulous employers will let older employees go when they near retirement age so that they can avoid paying out retirement benefits. Or they let them go to replace them with someone young who will take a beginner's salary.

Every application asks for people with SOME experience? Some is the key word here. Big difference between "some" and people who have worked 20, 30 years in their field and expect a salary to match.

Yes, it is not so easy for men over 50 to get a job. This is just one of those things, there is not much you can do about it.

Some over qualified people only take a lower level job until they can land one they want. Some experienced people don't have more skills than they had after the first year, yet want more pay. Some over qualified actually want the lower paid job. I was a CPA but wanted to be a bookkeeper, I liked bookkeeping. I landed my last job at 54 as a bookkeeper with 30 years experience in accounting, bookkeeping and software support, so it can be done.

It asks for some experience, but it doesn't ask for 30-40 years of experience. Some businesses do want someone who is green, but even the ones that want someone with some experience often want someone with only 5-10 (for example) years of experience.

You will see, if you are looking for a job in 20 yrs time you will find out how hard it can be

Sometimes. It depends what the employer is looking for. Many people with experience get jobs by networking. I changed employers twice after I got my degree. One move was via a headhunter (recruiter) who called me from a referral and the other was to work for a prior manager who had moved to a new company.

Age discrimination is a real thing. Much of it is because companies are looking to hire cheap and older workers demand a higher salary that they previously had. Sometimes hiring managers want someone they can mold or feel threatened by someone of equal or higher work experience. In general, there are often more entry level jobs available due to budgets and turnover at that level.

Sounds like your friend is talking from their perspective only. Unless you conduct studies across several different types of business will you find out what the stats are as far as hiring experienced and older vs young and new meat. Different industries find they have more success hiring the older and experienced and vice versa.

Your friend is right. I'm over 50 and have30 or so years of experience working in IT. When my last job was outsourced, I couldn't get anything. Nobody wants to pay for someone with experience, especially in my field. They all want young guys who will do shift work and lots of overtime without any benefits. Experience costs money, and nobody is willing to pay.

As a senior citizen, I can tell you from experience that your friend is correct. I have a lot of experience teaching (and 2 Teacher of the Year awards) but after moving I couldn't find a job. I talked to a friend who is also an administrator for a school district. She explained that many places will hire people with less experience because they don't have to pay for experience.