Grey Matters

Only around 6% of people working in creative agencies are over 50. But within 10 years, half of all UK adults will be. 

Why the mismatch? Why the waste?

It can’t surely be a lack of creativity? Nobel and Pulitzer prizes are almost always won by seasoned campaigners. 

Perhaps the routinely peddled ageist stereotypes have been swallowed whole by recruiters and HR folk? (https://www.adaptworldwide.com/insights/2022/the-forgotten-bias-ageism-in-marketing) 

Do they believe that those of us who entered the workplace at the pre-dawn of the internet and the birth of the Apple Mac are not ‘digitally savvy’? Just because we don’t do Tik-Tok doesn’t mean we’re Dad’s Army.

Or is it because people in their 20’s are prepared to work for peanuts for 70 hrs a week, whilst more self-aware colleagues appreciate the value of a life-work balance?

We’ve learnt to appreciate that experienced colleagues bring deep value to problem-solving and are more prepared to leave their egos at the door. Creativity can be defined as ‘finding original meanings and patterns, enriched but not constrained by past experience’. People who have both the maturity to make use of their life and work experiences, and the integrity and talent to explore new ideas, should be treasured not put out to grass.

Sadly, this isn’t reflected in most agencies. As Bob Hoffman writes in Advertising for Sceptics “..people over 50 are creative enough to dominate in Nobels, Pulitzers, Oscars and Emmys but are not creative enough to write a fucking banner ad”.