Sure. Unfortunately, some bean counters don't see the value of the good ones either, though. All they see is "this old guy's making 25% more than this young gu

Sure. Unfortunately, some bean counters don't see the value of the good ones either, though. All they see is "this old guy's making 25% more than this young guy and putting in 20% fewer hours". So they think, "we should get rid of all these overpaid older people and replace them with cheaper younger workers" - not realizing the inefficiency of doing so. There's another side to this, which is that it's possible (even likely at a place like IBM) that long-tenured workers are eligible for pensions that more recent hires won't ever be offered no longer how long they stay. We can argue until the cows come home about the ethics (as opposed to the practicality) of cutting older workers primarily for the purpose of reducing pension obligations - which can be seen as breaking old promises.