That's just depressing. I came here to post that this was probably a non-existent problem – that the middle-aged IT workers not finding work just need to modern

That's just depressing. I came here to post that this was probably a non-existent problem – that the middle-aged IT workers not finding work just need to modernize their skills a bit and all would be fine. Your post opened my eyes, I guess. That said, not everyone is like this. My company prefers experienced developers, so long as they're enthusiastic and have experience with relevant tech. We're a start-up, and find that the "old guys" are easily able to hang with the young guns in terms of energy and productivity.