Ageism at Work

How to navigate the unspoken overlap of ageism, biological shifts, and corporate cost-cutting in tech, and three practical strategies you can use to design a second act on your own terms.

The debate around ageism in tech leadership is complex because it rarely wears an overt badge. On one side, seasoned design and product leaders offer deep resilience, vision, and proven judgment that simply cannot be fast-tracked. On the other, corporate reality often prioritizes cost containment and malleability.

Peak experience comes with peak compensation. When organizations look to trim budgets, replacing a seasoned VP or Director with less expensive, more pliable managers looks attractive on a spreadsheet, even if it strips the company of its long-term strategic wisdom.

Stereotypes persist that leaders over 50 are less adaptable, tech-averse, or out of touch. This is a narrative amplified by the rapid integration of AI. The common assumption is that younger digital natives inherently navigate emerging tools better. 

In reality, generative AI levels the technical execution playing field, making technical syntax less critical than context, domain expertise, and prompt synthesis. AI tools lack institutional memory, high-craft intuition, and the ability to navigate complex human dynamics. 

Value in the AI era lies in asking the right questions, evaluating risks, and discerning high-leverage vision from noise. These are capacities built through decades of real-world trial, failure, and leadership.

For women, this decade frequently coincides with menopause. I know this firsthand. At 53, I was pushed out of a product design director role. I tried desperately to hide and mask my menopause symptoms, but the brain fog, joint pain, hot flushes, emotional hyper sensitivity and exhaustion left me "not fit for purpose" in a high-pressure environment. It wrecked my life at the time.

Yet, this biological toll isn't entirely unique to women. It raises a critical question: Is there a male equivalent, and why aren't we talking about it?

Men undergo their own midlife hormonal shift, often referred to as andropause or late-onset hypogonadism. Unlike the sharp hormonal cliff women experience as estrogen levels rapidly drop, approximately 67% over a concentrated four-year window, men undergo a gradual, subtle drop in testosterone, typically 1% to 2% per year starting in their 30s or 40s.

Neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Mosconi puts this biological reality into stark perspective in her book The Menopause Brain. Her research highlights that a man would have to live to approximately 105 years old to experience a loss of testosterone comparable in speed and severity to the sudden drop in estrogen that women undergo during menopause.

While the biological magnitude is vastly different, the workplace impact for both genders is very real:

When these physical shifts collide with an unforgiving corporate culture that prizes youth, speed, and endless output, leaders of any gender can find themselves sidelined right when their hard-won wisdom should be at its peak.

Reflecting 8 years later, I can say that being pushed out of my product design leadership career was a good thing. It forced a complete reinvention and led to a life more fulfilling than the corporate treadmill I left behind. Having control of my time being the crown jewel.

However, perspective is a luxury of time. If you are sitting at your desk today with debt, mortgages, school tuition fees, and other major financial responsibilities, being told that "rejection is redirection" feels patronizing. Ageism in the job market is a heavy, isolating burden.

Recently, I saw a post celebrating a career coach who helped a 50-year-old secure a great executive role. Good coaching and targeted support at this transitional moment can be transformational. But let’s be entirely candid: no coach can fix systemic age bias for you.

At the end of the day, you own your career. When facing this shift, you generally face three distinct paths:

You double down, refine your positioning, and compete directly for top-tier executive roles within traditional corporate structures. This path leverages your existing track record to claim the compensation and title you’ve earned, but it requires substantial energy, a thick skin to navigate biased hiring loops, and the patience for potentially much longer job searches.

You accept a lateral step, an advisory position, or a lesser title in exchange for greater autonomy, stability, or lower day-to-day stress. It allows you to stay engaged in your field without the relentless pressure of top-tier execution, though it often requires taking a step down in pay and status, demanding a conscious shift in ego and paycheck.

You step off the corporate ladder entirely to build a consulting practice, launch a business, (which is what I did), or craft a second act on your own terms. While this route brings high initial uncertainty and total responsibility for your income, it awards you complete ownership over your time, work, and life.

If you’re navigating this shift right now and want a confidential partner who’s walked this road to help chart your next move, I invite you to book a private discovery call. Together, we’ll look at where you are, clarify where you want to go, and design a roadmap to get you there, on your own terms.

Age comes for us all. A universal leveler that rewrites the terms whether we like it or not. When the universe handed me a hard stop, ending a three-decade tech design career I truly loved, I had to transform. I couldn't force my heart to keep beating for a path that had run its course. But walking away opened up a richer, far more wondrous chapter. What brought my heart back to life was serving the next generation of creative leaders as they shape the forefront of the tech revolution.

If you are aging with your power intact, your body resilient, and the world still recognizing your impact, then that is your place to stand. But for those holding the levers of global influence well into their eighties, I often wish there were term limits, a grace in stepping aside so a younger generation, whose values match today’s reality rather than yesterday’s memories, can lead.

There are no neat answers. I still fight age with denial and hostility. Yet beneath the resistance, the real work is finding peace in the wisdom it grants us, making room for new roles, and trusting the next generation to carry the torch.