At 54, I work at a FANG company (after >25 years mostly at startups and a couple of more traditional big companies). I mention that only to establish that I've

At 54, I work at a FANG company (after >25 years mostly at startups and a couple of more traditional big companies). I mention that only to establish that I've run this gauntlet successfully, so I know it's possible. Sure, these kinds of interviews have problems, some of which might disproportionately affect older programmers. Sure, our industry (and FANG companies in particular) are rife with ageism. It's usually not overt, but I could practically write a book about the "soft" ageism of work environments and evaluation processes that disproportionately affect older workers (high overlap with those that affect workers with families or with disabilities BTW). There's definitely reason to complain. That said, there's also some question about how valuable older workers are in newer companies. I don't particularly suffer from imposter syndrome, but I do sometimes wonder about the value of my experience. Sometimes having known other ways of doing things is an obstacle. I find myself fighting tools that have been built with a different philosophy. I find myself at odds with coworkers who have different views about things like designs, tests, and code patterns. Even if I'm "right" these minor conflicts are sometimes more of a drag than they're worth. There's value in having people be on the same page. I adapt as best I can, as well as anyone I know, but a lot of things still don't come as naturally to me as to the kids two levels "below" me who grew up with all this. Sure, having some folks like me is good both because of the lore we carry and to prevent monoculture, but how many at 1.5x the cost of our younger colleagues? Not too many, I think. The world has always needed fewer senior developers than junior ones. The reduction in demand has always been faster than the reduction in supply, which is why so many have always "graduated" into other roles (especially management) instead of remaining individual technical contributors. That is only becoming more true as the industry grows and technology accelerates. Nobody can rest on their laurels. The onus is on the individual to make themselves more competitive as they become more senior.