When seasoned voices disappear, so does context — and with it, better decisions.
When businesses talk about “talent strategy”, the conversation usually pivots to future skills, youth pipelines and digital natives—younger employees who are assumed to be innately fluent with new technologies because they’ve grown up with them. Meanwhile, the most underutilised resource—mature employees, especially women—is quietly pushed to the sidelines. This isn’t just a moral or reputational failing. It’s an expensive mistake.
Counting the real cost
The logic often goes like this: “Experience comes at a price”. Mature staff typically command higher salaries; on the spreadsheet, cutting costs by pushing out older employees can look like prudent management. But the research is clear: this short-term view undermines long-term performance and resilience.
A 2022 report by the Centre for Ageing Better found that organisations with greater age diversity are more productive and innovative, with lower turnover costs over time (Centre for Ageing Better, 2022). In contrast, companies that “juniorise” their workforce often see rising mistakes, missed deadlines, and ballooning costs for rework and rehiring. Knowledge walks out the door—and so do clients and partners who value continuity and experience.
Real-world evidence:
After a major UK retailer implemented a voluntary redundancy scheme targeting staff over 50, annual savings were wiped out by increased recruitment, training costs, and a spike in customer complaints. Their own internal review admitted the programme cost more than it saved.
In the tech sector, women over 45 face the highest risk of redundancy, despite studies like “STILL AROUND” (published in 2023 as part of the proceedings of the 45th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE)) showing that teams with experienced women outperformed all-male or younger teams on complex problem-solving. The result: turnover costs and lost project continuity.
Why the “expensive” narrative is flawed
It’s easy to focus on salary differentials and miss the bigger financial picture:
Lost productivity: According to PwC, replacing an experienced employee can cost 50–250% of their annual salary when you factor in recruitment, training, and lost know-how.
Diminished mentorship: When older staff leave, informal knowledge-sharing disappears. Younger employees miss out on learning shortcuts, stakeholder navigation and crisis management training/advice.
Diversity payback: Age-diverse teams generate higher returns. McKinsey’s 2020 report found that companies with inclusive teams are 35% more likely to outperform their peers financially (McKinsey, 2020).
And let’s be clear: for women, this isn’t just about age, but also gender. The tech industry, for instance, routinely loses senior female talent because “keeping them” is perceived as costly, while their unique perspective and networks are impossible to replace at any price.
The untapped ROI of experience
There’s a reason some of the world’s most successful firms invest in multi-generational teams:
At Airbus, cross-generational mentoring reduced project errors and boosted on-time delivery.
In the NHS, retention of mature staff in clinical and management roles has been linked to better patient outcomes and lower legal costs.
It’s not just about what mature employees know. It’s how they connect, coach and steady the ship when storms hit. These skills don’t show up as a line item on the balance sheet—but their absence is always costly.
A new financial narrative
Leaders need to ask themselves:
Are we measuring only what’s easy to count, or what actually drives our success?
Do our hiring and retention practices reward short-term savings, or long-term value?
Are we building systems where older women, in particular, can both contribute and develop—so their wisdom becomes an asset, not a cost centre?
Time for a reset
The smart money is on organisations that challenge the myth that experience is “too expensive”. Instead, they recognise that the true cost comes from invisibility, exclusion and the revolving door of talent loss.
If we want workplaces that are innovative, resilient and fiscally sound, we must stop treating mature employees—especially women—as a line item to trim. Their visibility isn’t a luxury. It’s a strategic imperative.