I would also add that I think the reason companies don’t want older workers is that they can hire younger workers at a much lower salary. Almost everything in America now is about hiring cheap labor and grinding workers to death.

Many times, many many times, only when I was older though, never had a problem when I was young. Scored quite a few jobs that I may have been considered too young for.

As an interviewer I wad stunned to discover some of the techniques used by companies to discriminate. For instance an ad that says degree with 5 to 10 years required means, " we want somebody with a college degree (@21) with 5 - 10 years experience(+5-10 tears = 26 to 31 years of age. So people who respond with 20 years experience (41 years old) are not called in for the interview. If you have 30 or 40 years experience the line is "stick a fork in 'em, they're done."

The job market is much like any other market, supply and demand. There is not a great demand for older workers as there is a stigma of us being slow setting our ways are not going to be around for that many years. One counters this by developing skills that are in high demand, on interviews demonstrate a degree of vigor and stamina and bring up the age issue yourself. I make the point of telling them that I intend to be around until I'm 70 and engage in a conversation as opposed to an Inquisition.

How old do you have to be to be old?

I used to think of 30 as old - then I passed 30. Then it was 40. Then 50.

Now 60 year olds seem young to me.

And I've seen a few 70 year old women I wouldn't kick out of bed.

Age discrimination is a constant once you pass sixty. Nobody sez "you are too damned old"! But you get the message. Best way to circumvent that is to create your own job. There will still be discrimination, but not nearly as much.

Yup. Here in Thailand several schools made me teach a sample class, fill out forms, etc, then after wasting my time all day, would tell me I'm too old, so I began putting my age first on my resumes to eliminate these time wasters.

Most Thai schools pay foreign teachers the same salary, so I began choosing small, remote beach side temple schools with small classes, and plenty of wild birds to photograph.