They may lack up-to-date skills owing to technological changes.
Knowledge-intensive services have boomed at the same time, putting a premium on up-to-date skills.
Despite broad experience, demonstrated adaptability and up-to-date skills, it doesn't look as if I can get 10 more years' work in computer programming.
This is actually a report for the whole tech sector, it's about equipping our children with up-to-date skills.
The workforce can adjust to changes in the demand for skills by acquiring new skills, through training, or by replacing older workers with younger ones who have up-to-date skills.
"Mentally, it may be good for the candidate, but I think companies are still in a position to say 'O.K., we're looking for a candidate with the most up-to-date skills,' " Mr. Pradarelli said.
And even for jobs that require up-to-date skills, an interview or a test would be a more accurate and less discriminatory way to evaluate a candidate's qualifications.
With the unemployment rate at 7.2percentt, many older workers are worried that it will take them a long time to find a job because they will have to compete with younger workers who have more up-to-date skills.
When they lay off older workers, many employers insist they are focusing not on the workers' age but on their lack of up-to-date skills or their lagging motivation.
Four years ago, Google began sending engineers to historically black colleges such as Howard University for its "Google in Residence" program, an attempt to improve its recruiting from these campuses, prepare students for Google's peculiar hiring practices, and inject their computer science courses with more of the up-to-date skills that Silicon Valley needs.
