Hire Older Workers?

Many companies begin to treat their employees who reach middle age, with a certain amount of careless deference. They begin to make comments about aging such as "you look tired today - everything okay?" and "if you can't get it done today, take a break, we can ask one of the new guys" or "hey, you must be looking forward to retirement in a few years". The older worker takes the sting and laughs it off, but it does sting. They are generally by-passed, if so, on promotions with aside excuses such as "jaded", "tire more easily", getting near retirement", "slacking off", "need a rest", "too well paid" and so on. Bosses tend to pander to the young and willing because they give more of their free time and effort beyond normal so as to ensure their jobs. It's natural. But the the younger worker frequently looks down competitively upon the older worker as someone "doing the job too slowly or without a lot of enthusiasm". How many times, do we hear around the coffee table that the older worker "slacks off" while the younger speaker says "I can do the job much better"? The fact that the older worker paces him or herself  which can look slow, but which is things more aptly and carefully done, is a learned method, not a fault. Speed doesn't always have a good result unless there is a deal of caution against error.   A younger worker has more energy to pour on, but experience is, for the most part, better. Zip and zap are two different aspects of accomplishment. Zip does it fast that sometimes flops, and zap does it with the invisible steady magic of experience. Both can be fine, but "zap" is more stable while "zip" often fails. The older worker knows that he doesn't have to rush and why should he or she want to, when stress, self applied or not, has bad effects as seen in mistakes that cost the company money. Younger workers always have another opportunity in mind and will leave one job for another without losing much. Also, circumstances such a a spouse having to make a job relocation, can lead to them leaving their own work with little notice. The older worker stays on because of invested pension funds and time and loyalties to the company even though he sees retirement approaching. He or she also has established a stable relationship with the employer and plans to stay with it, good times and bad. A younger worker will not, and cannot. Hiring older workers is also a good move. They need a job to keep up their lifestyles and this often results in a willingness to give more to their jobs than the younger staff who still have a lot to learn, not only on the job but also with the ability to put the job and all that it entails, into a reliable perspective. It's finding that balance to keep on the tried and true worker, while respecting the vital place in a company for both young and older employees.