This 69-year-old’s bid to be 49 was lacking, but his story highlights an unresolved issue – ageism in hiring.

Sixty-nine-year-old “Positivity Trainer” Emile Ratelband was refused a legal “age change” by the Dutch court despite his argument that his legal age was inconsistent with how he “identifies”.

His argument drew criticism as it seemed to piggyback off the legal arguments for hard-won protections for transgender people.

“I say it’s comparable because it has to do with my feeling,” explained Ratelband, “ with respect about who I think … I am, my identity.”

It seems, however, that his true qualm with his age is how others see him, and not how he sees himself.

“If I’m 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car. I can take up more work,” says the Dutchman. “When I’m on Tinder and it says I’m 69, I don’t get an answer. When I’m 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position.”

The logic of Ratelband’s comparison between gender confirmation and age reassignment failed to convince the courts, with their official statement reading:

“Mr. Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly, but changing his legal documents would have undesirable legal and societal implications.”

“Ratelband’s insistence on comparing his own situation with the trans movement is not just offensive. It highlights the inadequacies of his argument” – @HolstaT weighs in on #EmileRatelband https://t.co/2JvntYBauo

— CNN Opinion (@CNNOpinion) November 15, 2018

For example, certain legal responsibilities like driving, voting, or drinking are explicitly tied to specific ages. And what happens to the time taken away? Are diplomas issued during this period valid? Are nuptials annulled? Are pensions still paid out? Are mortgages collectible?

The absurdity of Ratelband’s request is indeed apparent. However, the incident should give the recruiting industry pause, as ageism remains a prevalent problem in today’s workplace, especially in the hiring process. According to AARP research, 61 percent of workers age 45 plus report experiencing ageism on the job, with the majority characterizing it as “common”.

Sixteen percent of respondents from the same study believe they have been denied employment because of their age. In 2015 Anglia Ruskin University conducted a study in which two sets of CVs – one stating the applicant age as 28, and the other as 50 – were submitted to over 2,000 job advertisements. Researchers found that the 28-year-old was four times as likely to receive a response from an employer.

So, the real question facing recruiters is – what negative biases could Ratelband be trying to subvert by legally lowering his age?

To shed light on this issue, we present some of the most common myths about mature workers, and facts to dispel them…

Myth: Older people are tech inept and have fewer skills than younger people.

Fact: A 2013 study from North Carolina University found in a survey of the over 1.6 million users of the online programming forum, that the average programmer reputation score increased with age, with programmers in their 50s typically exhibiting a greater knowledge base than their younger counterparts.

Myth: Older people are stuck in their ways and don’t wan to learn new things.

Fact: Research from the AARP reveals that 80 percent of workers aged 45-85 cite “the opportunity to learn something new” as a fundamental trait of their ideal job.

Myth: Older people are poor performers and aren’t motivated to do well.

Fact: In 2013, the Cogito Study evaluated two groups of adults – one, ages 20-30, and the other, ages 65-80 – on the performance of 12 tasks over 100 days. The researchers were surprised to discover that the group of older adults performed markedly better, with more stable and less variable performance as well as higher motivation.

Ageism, as a topic, cannot be ignored much longer. It’s estimated that by 2030, workers age 55 plus will comprise almost 30 percent of the American workforce. And it’s not just the US, Joyce DeMonnin, Communications & Media Relations Director at AARP explains, “The whole globe is aging. People have longer lifespans and fewer children, but another consideration is that older people are also your customers.”

Tech has increasingly become a young person’s hustle, but excluding older workers could be hurting tech companies’ futures.

In Silicon Valley, the median age of employees at titans such as Facebook and Google is under 30 years old. FB founder Mark Zuckerberg and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla opine that “young people are just smarter”, and “people over 45 die in terms of new ideas”. It’s no wonder the demand for “digital natives” is leaving older workers at a disadvantage. While it would be hard to fault such logic, we still have to ask: is big tech’s discrimination against an aging workforce hurting its future self?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2030, workers aged 55 and older will constitute nearly 30 percent of the American workforce. This will impact cross-sector industries on a global scale—from e-commerce to financial and business services, even manufacturing. “The whole globe is aging,” says Joyce DeMonnin, Communications & Media Relations Director at AARP. “People have longer lifespans and fewer children, but another consideration is that older people are also your customers.”

And as such, it’s time for tech companies to check their ageist bias, from their job ads to their hiring practices. To speak more about identifying and eliminating ageism in the workplace, we invited Joyce DeMonnin from AARP Oregon; Emilia D’Anzica, founder of Customer Growth Advisors; and Scott Hernandez, Global Head of Recruiting at StubHub; to our Hiring Success Conference in San Francisco. You can watch their full presentation in the video embedded above, or read on for a summary of each presenter’s talk.

Joyce DeMonnin, Communications & Media Relations Director at AARP Oregon

Working in education and policy with AARP, Joyce raises awareness of how older workers are often undervalued as employees. Organizations may wonder if older workers are staying relevant or current, but DeMonnin says businesses need to “understand and judge someone on their passion, purpose, and what they can bring to their organization,” and not just see them as out-of-touch or ready for the glue factory.

“Older workers have a lot of knowledge, skill, ability, and talent,” she argues. “They also have lots of connections, they’re great mentors, and stay passionate about being engaged.”

What’s more, businesses that fail to eliminate ageist biases may face legal ramifications under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which protects applicants and employees 40 years or older from discrimination during the hiring process, promotions, and job terminations. As DeMonnin points out, even the language used in job descriptions can be enough to violate the ADEA, making writing analysis tools like Textio invaluable when creating job ads with truly neutral language.

Emilia D’Anzica, Founder at Customer Growth Advisors

Having spent over a decade working in tech, Emilia D’Anzica was shocked to find she was being replaced because company leadership wanted “fresh blood”. Her next task was to select and train her replacement before her unceremonious departure. Rather than give into anger and disappointment, Emilia found a job that enabled her to mentor and inspire other business leaders about biases in the workplace.

“Ageism is a social construct that we can all combat,” she says. “We can work towards changing how people look towards that experience.”

A more holistic approach might be what big tech needs to address the industry’s widening skills gap. “Why would you exclude a workforce that is educated, experienced, and can bring so much to the table,” Emilia asks, “especially as your consumers are getting older?”

Scott Hernandez, Global Head of Recruiting at StubHub

Hernandez sees ageism as a bias recruiters should actively keep in check, looking at experience as “a more holistic skillset.” At StubHub, Hernandez and his team construct the recruiting process around a set of company values—diversity being high on the list—and look to hire candidates the company views as a competitive advantage. “There is a strength in diversity,” says Hernandez. “More unique experience bring more unique ideas bring more unique perspectives and more unique output.”

Most forward-thinking companies would agree, and we’re already seeing a shift in recruiting practices that place more value on experience and skills that will amplify the performance of a team. For StubHub, reflecting the company’s expanded reach and commitment to diversity—including changes to company logos, brand colors, even the typography—is a top priority. When recruiting new talent, Hernandez claims Stubhub “doesn’t constrain itself to the jobs of yesterday, but the needs of tomorrow.”

Unlike other workplace biases that have active communities who rally in support of inclusion, ageism remains largely ignored. While most older workers say they have seen or experienced age discrimination, only 3 percent report having made a formal complaint.

Creating workplace cultures of inclusion didn’t happen overnight, and we’re far from done, which is why we’re revisiting “Ageism in the workplace” at our upcoming Hiring Success Conference in Berlin.

For Emilia D’Anzica, eliminating the ageism bias begins with the question: “Do you hold yourself to your values and your company mission without a bias? That is a question you have to constantly ask yourself, and conferences will refresh your mind and will educate you on the shifting workforce and how you can rewire your biases.”