Interesting — and disheartening — research out of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
It shows that, among other things, if you move to blinded job interviews and callbacks (where the interviewer cannot ascertain the age of the job applicant, job bias against older people, the older applicants are treated better:
There is other evidence of age discrimination in hiring from nonexperimental approaches. In data from a single company hiring across multiple stores, a change in hiring procedure from in-person interviews to age-blind online assessments was rolled out over time. The in-person interviews, in which the interviewer could assess age immediately, led to lower hiring of older applicants. Older applicants fared better in the age-blind online assessments, getting more interviews — likely because of more work experience — but adverse treatment of older applicants emerged after the interviews, when age became apparent.
Not a shock, obviously. But it does point to the reasons I know several poeple in my circle alone who are over 60 and cannot find a job outside the most menial positions. These are highly qualified, higher-level intelligence individuals who are still just as sharp as ever.