By Che’ Blackmon
Let me tell you something that keeps me up at night: Ageism is one of the most socially acceptable forms of discrimination in corporate America.
We’ll call out racism. We’ll challenge sexism. We’ll demand better when we see discrimination based on disability or sexual orientation. But ageism? It slides right under the radar, wrapped in euphemisms like “cultural fit,” “overqualified,” and “looking for fresh perspectives.”
The truth is scarier than most leaders want to admit.
The Numbers Don’t Lie đ
According to AARP research, 78% of older workers have seen or experienced age discrimination at work. Think about that. Nearly 8 out of 10 people. Yet only 3% of age discrimination charges result in reasonable cause findings.
Here’s what makes this particularly insidious: unlike other protected characteristics, everyone will eventually face age discrimination if they work long enough. It’s not a matter of if, but when.
For Black women in corporate spacesâthose of us navigating what I call the “intersection of invisibility”âage discrimination compounds existing barriers. We’re already fighting against racial and gender bias. Add age to that equation, and you’ve got a perfect storm of marginalization that can derail even the most accomplished career.
What Ageism Actually Looks Like in the Workplace đ
Forget the obvious scenarios of someone being pushed out at 65. Modern ageism is far more sophisticated and far more damaging.
It looks like this:
A 52-year-old marketing director with 20 years of experience gets passed over for a promotion. The feedback? “We’re looking for someone who can grow with the role.” Translation: someone younger.
A 47-year-old Black woman in tech gets excluded from innovation meetings despite her track record of successful product launches. Her ideas are deemed “traditional” while a 28-year-old colleague’s nearly identical suggestions are called “fresh thinking.”
A 55-year-old senior manager suddenly finds herself removed from high-visibility projects. HR says the company is “investing in emerging talent.” What they mean is they’re investing in younger talent.
The Intersection Nobody Talks About Enough đ
In my e-book “Rise & Thrive: A Black Woman’s Blueprint for Leadership Excellence,” I discuss how Black women face unique challenges in climbingâand staying atâleadership levels. When you add age to the mix, those challenges multiply exponentially.
Research from Catalyst shows that Black women already earn just 64 cents for every dollar earned by white men. As we age, that gap often widens. We’re seen as either “too aggressive” when we advocate for ourselves or “past our prime” when we demonstrate the seasoned judgment that comes with experience.
There was a Fortune 500 company who conducted an internal audit and discovered something alarming: while their overall workforce included a healthy percentage of employees over 50, their leadership pipeline for this demographic had completely dried up. Even more telling? Black women over 45 were virtually absent from succession planning discussionsâdespite many having stellar performance records.
The message was clear: experience wasn’t valued. It was feared.
Why Companies Sabotage Themselves đź
Here’s the business case that should terrify every C-suite leader: ageism is actively destroying your competitive advantage.
In “Mastering a High-Value Company Culture” and “High-Value Leadership: Transforming Organizations Through Purposeful Culture,” I emphasize that high-value cultures leverage the full spectrum of talent. That includes leveraging the institutional knowledge, strategic thinking, and crisis management skills that come with decades of experience.
Yet companies continue to shoot themselves in the foot.
They push out experienced employees and then spend millions on consultants to tell them things their departed staff already knew. They complain about losing institutional knowledge while simultaneously creating cultures where “tenure” becomes a liability rather than an asset. They preach innovation while ignoring that some of the most groundbreaking innovations come from people who’ve seen enough business cycles to recognize genuine opportunities.
A healthcare organization once restructured their entire operations team, pushing out several directors in their 50s under the guise of “organizational agility.” Within 18 months, they faced a crisis that their remaining younger team had never encountered. The solution? They had to hire consultantsâsome of whom were the same age as the people they’d pushed outâat triple the cost.
The irony would be funny if it weren’t so expensive.
The Hidden Cost to Those “Traditionally Overlooked” đ
Let’s be real about who pays the highest price for workplace ageism: those who were already fighting uphill battles.
Black women. Latinx professionals. LGBTQ+ employees. People with disabilities. Indigenous workers.
When you’ve spent your entire career overcoming barriers that others never even see, finally reaching a point of seniority and influence should feel like victory. Instead, ageism threatens to erase everything you’ve built.
I’ve watched brilliant Black women leadersâwomen who survived and thrived through decades of microaggressions, pay inequity, and being the “only one in the room”âget systematically edged out just as they reach their peak earning and influence years. The same companies that post about diversity and inclusion on LinkedIn have no problem suggesting these women “consider retirement” at 53. That’s not culture. That’s cultural erasure.
Fighting Back: Your Battle Plan âď¸
So what do we do? Because make no mistakeâthis is a fight worth having.
For Individual Professionals:
1. Document Everything Keep records of your contributions, positive feedback, and accomplishments. If age discrimination rears its head, you’ll need evidence. Screenshot those emails praising your work. Save performance reviews. Track your project successes.
2. Build Your External Brand Your value isn’t determined by one employer’s ageist culture. Strengthen your LinkedIn presence. Speak at industry events. Write articles. Mentor others. Build a personal brand that makes you indispensable.
3. Create Alliances Find allies across age groups. The junior colleague who values your mentorship today may be in a position to advocate for you tomorrow. Cross-generational collaboration isn’t just good for businessâit’s good strategy.
4. Stay Current (But on Your Terms) Yes, you should understand emerging technologies and trends. No, you don’t need to pretend to be 25. Bring your experience to new tools and approaches. Your ability to contextualize innovation within broader strategic frameworks is precisely what makes you valuable.
5. Know Your Rights The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects workers 40 and older. If you suspect age discrimination, consult with an employment attorney. Sometimes the mere knowledge that you know your rights can shift organizational behavior.
For Leaders and Organizations:
1. Audit Your Practices Look at your hiring, promotion, and retention data by age cohort. If everyone in leadership is between 35-45, you have a problem. If your layoffs disproportionately affect workers over 50, you have a legal liability.
2. Reframe Experience as an Asset Stop using “overqualified” as a rejection reason. Start using language that values experience: “seasoned judgment,” “proven track record,” “strategic perspective.” Words matter. They shape culture.
3. Create Intergenerational Teams The best teams leverage diverse perspectivesâincluding age diversity. A 28-year-old digital native and a 58-year-old industry veteran should be collaborating, not competing.
4. Fix Your Benefits Ensure your benefits package appeals across age ranges. That means robust healthcare, yes, but also professional development opportunities that don’t assume everyone wants to “level up” into management. Some people want to deepen expertise. Honor that.
5. Make Age Part of Your DEI Strategy Diversity isn’t just about race, gender, and sexual orientation. Age diversity matters. Include it in your training. Track it in your metrics. Hold leaders accountable for it.
Real Talk: The Generational Divide Myth đ¤
Let’s bust a pervasive myth: that generational differences are unbridgeable.
You’ve heard the stereotypes. Boomers are stuck in their ways. Gen X is cynical. Millennials are entitled. Gen Z is fragile.
It’s all nonsenseâand it’s convenient nonsense that allows ageism to flourish.
Research from the Center for Generational Kinetics shows that generational differences in the workplace are vastly overstated. What we call “generational gaps” are often just differences in life stage or access to resources. The 25-year-old who wants flexibility and the 55-year-old who wants flexibility aren’t from different planetsâthey’re human beings with similar needs expressed differently.
A tech startup once convinced themselves they needed an “all millennial” workforce to stay innovative. They structured everything around this assumption: unlimited PTO (but an unspoken culture of never taking it), open offices (that destroyed focus time), and “mandatory fun” (that felt like anything but). When they finally hired a 50-year-old product manager out of desperation during a crisis, she transformed their development processânot despite her age, but because her experience helped her cut through the performative elements to focus on actual outcomes.
Within six months, they’d revised their entire hiring strategy.
The Future We’re Building đ
Here’s what I know after decades of building high-value cultures: the future of work doesn’t belong to any single generation. It belongs to organizations brave enough to leverage every generation.
The companies that will thrive in the next decade understand that a 62-year-old Black woman who’s navigated corporate America for 35 years brings something to the table that no MBA program can teach. She’s survived market crashes, led through technological revolutions, and built resilience in the face of systemic barriers.
That’s not obsolescence. That’s mastery.
High-value leadershipâthe kind I write about and teachârecognizes that experience isn’t a liability to be “aged out.” It’s an asset to be amplified. When organizations create cultures where people can contribute meaningfully across their entire career arc, everyone wins.
Your Action Plan: 30-60-90 Days đ
Days 1-30: Awareness
- Assess your current situation honestly. Are you experiencing ageism? Are you perpetuating it?
- If you’re in leadership, review your organization’s age demographics across levels.
- Start conversations about ageism with trusted colleagues.
Days 31-60: Action
- Implement at least one strategy from this article.
- If you’re experiencing discrimination, consult with HR or legal counsel.
- If you’re a leader, initiate one policy change that actively counters ageism.
Days 61-90: Advocacy
- Become a vocal advocate for age diversity.
- Mentor someone from a different generation.
- Share your story or insights to help others.
Discussion Questions for Your Team đŹ
- How does our organization currently valueâor devalueâexperience and tenure?
- What specific language or practices in our workplace might be perpetuating ageism, even unintentionally?
- How are we ensuring that Black women and other traditionally overlooked professionals aren’t disproportionately affected by age bias?
- What would change if we truly saw age diversity as a competitive advantage rather than a challenge to manage?
- Where are the gaps in our leadership pipeline when we look at age demographics? What’s causing those gaps?
Let’s Do This Work Together đ¤
Fighting workplace ageism isn’t a solo endeavor. It requires systemic change, courageous leadership, and a commitment to building truly high-value cultures where everyoneâregardless of age, race, or genderâcan rise and thrive.
At Che’ Blackmon Consulting, we specialize in transforming organizational cultures to become more equitable, inclusive, and effective. Whether you’re an individual professional navigating age discrimination or a leader committed to building better systems, we’re here to partner with you.
Ready to create lasting change?
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Let’s build workplaces where experience is honored, diverse voices are amplified, and every professionalâat every ageâhas the opportunity to contribute their best work.
Because the scary truth about ageism? It doesn’t have to be our future.
We can fight it. We can change it. We can build something better.
The question is: will you?
About Che’ Blackmon Consulting
We partner with organizations and leaders to build high-value cultures where everyone can rise and thrive. Through strategic consulting, leadership development, and transformative culture work, we help companies turn their values into action and their potential into performance.
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