It’s hard to overstate how much I want to see this topic the same way as you do. I think, so far, I’ve only become more productive, and I don’t feel the cynicism that many seem to acquire past a certain age (“all frameworks are just the same”, “wheel is reinvented all the time” etc - I have a more nuanced view on this). I’m not really worried about my productivity at 60, but that the market will favor cheaper, superficially quicker-minded folks, who tend to be young.
No the reason why they want young people is not speed.
Managers hate mature people because they are a lot harder to command. You also run into the problem of someone being more qualified than their superior.
I work in healthcare and seeing a child manager clash with a 60 year old nurse never stops being hilarious.
