Lucy Standing is the founder of pioneering CIC Brave Starts, which provides career development for people between the ages of 45-65.
She has spoken in UK Parliament about older workers, and contributed research and insights to global organisations like the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, helping shape policy discussions on ageing and work. She was the Vice Chair of the Association for Business Psychology 2011-2021. Lucy also writes a regular careers advice column for The Daily Telegraph.
The tech industry prides itself on disruption.
It challenges outdated business models and reinvents sectors – yet when it comes to age, it remains stubbornly old-fashioned. Somewhere along the way, tech absorbed a powerful assumption: that careers peak early and after 40, you are somehow past it.
At a time when businesses are grappling with skills shortages, AI transformation, and increasingly complex operating environments, sidelining experienced women is not just unfair: it’s a strategic failure of unimaginable scale.
In Age Against the Machine, I argue that the problem isn’t that individuals over 40 are running out of relevance – it’s that our systems, hiring practices, and narratives haven’t caught up with the reality of our ageing demographic.
The Lie of Early Peak Performance
The idea that capability declines at 40 is rooted in stereotype -not evidence. By midlife, most professionals have developed a level of judgment that cannot be fast-tracked. Often referred to as emotional intelligence, this peaks closer to 50. Women at this stage in life know how to make decisions with incomplete information. They understand trade-offs. They’ve seen what works, what fails, and why.
In tech, where the stakes are high and the pace relentless, this kind of thinking is invaluable – yet, instead of leveraging it, organisations often default to hiring “potential” over proven capability.
Women Pay the Price.
Women over 40 in tech frequently describe becoming less visible, less considered, and less invested in, not because their performance has declined, but because they no longer fit the industry’s implicit image of “high potential.” According to the UK government report into UK diversity in Tech: “Attrition rates are high, with one in three women planning to leave their roles due to a lack of career progression, poor work-life balance, and an unsupportive culture.”
The result is missed opportunities and unnecessary exits.
Value is more important than chasing relevance.
Women can feel the pressure to constantly “prove” they are still relevant.
The value of wisdom isn’t chasing every new tool or trend to keep up. The answer is the courage to not know everything, but to be able to pick up, learn and adapt when needed.
Know you are not the myth
The most damaging myth is that older workers can’t retrain and aren’t worth investing in. The evidence says the opposite.
According to OECD research on midcareer workers, employers consistently believe that people over 45 are less able to learn new technologies, yet when they are actually hired, nearly nine in ten perform as well as (or better than) younger colleagues. Midcareer workers learn just as quickly, and stay longer.
More telling still, older workers who do retrain and switch careers report significantly higher job satisfaction (often 20–30% higher than those who remain stuck). This shows the issue isn’t capability. It is failure to adapt to a changing workforce. You are as good – if not better now than you’ve ever been.
Invest in experimentation.
Midlife is a pivot point. As people age, purpose becomes more important. This might mean stepping into leadership, shaping strategy, advising founders, or building a portfolio career. It might mean creating something entirely new.
In Age Against the Machine, I talk about the importance of experimentation, not as a luxury, but as a necessity. You don’t think your way into your next chapter. You test, you explore, you try things in the real world.
Take control and design a career that lasts
For women who want a sustainable, flexible, and meaningful longer term career, a more intentional approach is needed. Focus on what you can control: who you talk to, what you learn, the questions you ask, and the experiments you run. You have always been in the driving seat – now more than ever.
A Call to Action—for Individuals and Industry
This is not just an individual issue to solve. It is an industry problem to fix.
Tech cannot afford to ignore experienced women. The future of work is ageing. The workforce is ageing and so are our customers. For women reading this, the message is simple: you are not done. You are not behind and you are certainly not irrelevant. If anything, you are entering one of the most powerful phases of your career – but you need to choose to see it that way.
Age Against the Machine by Lucy Standing, Martin Hyde and Maggi Evans is out on 16 April 2026
