We do not need fixing, we need reframing.

At CareerCon in Denver, nearly 90 seasoned professionals showed up carrying doubt and walked out with tools, clarity, and a renewed sense of leverage. When we stop asking “Am I still relevant?” and start asking “How do I use what I know strategically?” everything shifts.

Experience is not the problem. Strategy and visibility are.

When experience shows up for itself, everything changes.

The future of work is shifting and experience is finally stepping into the spotlight. Forty percent of today’s workforce is already 45 plus, yet too many companies still treat seasoned professionals like they are optional instead of essential. The truth is simple. Experience pays. Teams move faster when wisdom is in the room. Perspective gets sharper. Risk becomes clearer. Innovation becomes smarter because it is grounded in people who have lived through cycles and solved real problems before.

In 2026, leaders will have no choice but to rethink how they hire, retain, and develop experienced talent. Age-inclusive practices will not be a nice-to-have. They will be an economic strategy. And the individuals who know how to articulate and own the value of their experience will be the ones shaping what comes next.

The return on experience is rising. The seasoned professional is not aging out. They are the advantage.

The high price of being single and over 40 with Barbara Brooks of SecondActWomen.

Do birthday alerts on LinkedIn harm professionals facing age bias? Barbara Brooks explores how celebration can collide with workplace perception.

How do you regain your place in the workforce after years of being away and esepcially if you’re over 40? Returnships. It’s the newest thing to help women and men ‘get back at it’ after being out of work for months if not years.

It didn’t seem to matter that I’d successfully marketed some of today’s biggest malls (Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas Strip included), won big, led teams, and had an amazing bank of connections and contacts. Somewhere along the line, I went from asset to overlooked. And yes, I believe age bias had something to do with it when I looked back.

But look who opened her own door.

Indeed, the world's largest career seeker and recruiter platform leaned into the age-old stereotype that humans over a certain age of FIFTY-FIVE are too old to work. Or rather, they're in the "decline” era.