Is it because large swaths of the industry use non experienced people to do the hiring? Experience values experience. Lack of experience values perceived longevity, ability to pay less, and zeal.
Also, age is not experience. Age is usually an ingredient to experience (though some make use of less age than others to gain experience). But in and of itself, it does not create useful experience (maybe wisdom is the word we’re looking for here). I’ve worked with many older engineers who hadn’t gained useful experience. They’re still making the same mistakes they did years ago. And I’ve worked with younger engineers who I can tell are going to be old dinosaurs from the get go. They like the high paying career and the problem solving aspect, but the desire to evolve and improve their game play just isn’t there.
Also, age is not experience. Age is usually an ingredient to experience (though some make use of less age than others to gain experience). But in and of itself, it does not create useful experience (maybe wisdom is the word we’re looking for here). I’ve worked with many older engineers who hadn’t gained useful experience. They’re still making the same mistakes they did years ago. And I’ve worked with younger engineers who I can tell are going to be old dinosaurs from the get go. They like the high paying career and the problem solving aspect, but the desire to evolve and improve their game play just isn’t there.