You're going to get anecdotes on HN because this is a discussion website. Also, studies on this issue tend to not be well known without effort looking them up.

You're going to get anecdotes on HN because this is a discussion website. Also, studies on this issue tend to not be well known without effort looking them up. The asshole factor is relevant but not as much as you would expect. The actual perception that older workers haven't kept their edge is actually a common bias I've seen while gathering people for hiring. This bias is probably common amongst younger looking at older workers (eg 25 year old not hiring 35 year old) but also amongst older looking at less older. Eg a 50 year old won't hire a 40 year old because they wonder why the 40 year old even wants the position. Those two viewpoints seem to be recurring patterns at least in my experience. You probably want hard data. I'm sure it is out here, Department of labor?