As someone who is over 40 and took a few years off, I can tell you that having recent working experience is more important than age (or at least it was for me).

As someone who is over 40 and took a few years off, I can tell you that having recent working experience is more important than age (or at least it was for me). Nobody seemed worried about how old I was but many people wondered if I could still code after taking 5 years off (I kept coding as a hobby, though).