Old Enough to Know Better
I’ve been having coffee with many old colleagues lately—friends I’ve made over 20 years in the television business. We reminisce about the old days when programming was robust, and job opportunities were available. We talk about exciting projects in the works—at least the few that we have.
If you’ve been in the business as long as we have, you know these ebbs and flows. It takes both hands to count the number of layoffs I survived.
Expansion, contraction, and change are part of life in media. Who remembers The Learning Channel and the Arts & Entertainment Network? Things evolve, and the next thing you know, a channel is fully dedicated to all things marijuana.
Business and technology is always growing and improving. Yesterday’s MySpace becomes today’s TikTok. AM/FM radio becomes Spotify. Broadcast and & cable television have become streaming and FAST channels. Revenue sources diversify; ergo, media delivery changes.
Decades ago, I worked on a BBC/Discovery series about biblical history. It had high ratings in both countries but fell short in the US due to low advertising sales. No brand wanted to be associated with religious content. Flash forward 20 years, Netflix premieres a new series about the life of Moses. It was very successful, making the streamer’s Top 10. The difference? Advertiser dollars didn’t dictate its success. Progress.
Television and media are always seen through the prism of a young man’s game. With technology changing quickly, many feel that only the young can stay on the pulse of all things new. Add in that younger folks tend to earn less than seasoned veterans, and it’s a win-win for the bottom line. But is that the case?
A recent study by the consulting firm Bain & Company showed that the older workforce (age 55 & up) will comprise over 25% of the workforce by the end of the decade. Younger workers are entering employment later for reasons that could be four articles beyond this one. (I get it….and I’d be cranky too. But I’m old and, as a Gen Xer, we just rage to late 80s/early 90s music in our cars.)
The study also showed older employees stay longer and take less time off. A study by Age Smart Employer NYC noted companies benefit from older employees’ institutional knowledge and long-term association with the brand.
So what’s the problem here? Why is media always considered a “young man’s game’?
My guess is ever-changing technology.
It’s amazing how good and accessible cameras and editing programs have become. Technology makes a bad narrator sound good, and a horrible shot resembles a Terrance Malick film. Programs like Slack, Asana, Monday, Trello, and others make communication and project management more accessible and accountable. Covid forced the world to work apart, necessitating the adaptation of these tools.
The aging workforce lived through the invention of cell phones and the internet. A few of us even remember those large brown envelopes that held internal memos before electronic mail existed. Technology that feels quick and easy to Millennials and Gen Z is, for Gen X, yet another version of a program they knew a few years back. (FileMaker Pro, anyone?)
No matter what many believe, this is not a deal-breaker for the aging workforce. The Bain and Age Smart study determined that technology fluency is an easy gap to overcome if employers are willing to provide training.
The older workforce stays longer, has institutional knowledge, retains clients, and can overcome a possible technology gap. Do you know what older professionals also bring–especially in media? The ability to get the job done and done well. They have seen all of it: the smooth sailing project and the complete sh*tshow. They’ve faced lost footage (been there), drunk hosts (a celebrity too!), uncooperative contributors (oh so many), uncooperative clients (I’m not naming names), changing storylines (when sharks don’t show up), natural disasters (typhoon anyone?), budget cuts (haha), staff cuts (hahaha), and much, much more.
Older professionals can reach into the deepest recess of their brain and remember a project from way, way back that offers a clue on how to solve what seems like an insurmountable problem.
Do you know what talent is not age-dependent? Storytelling. Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Stephen Spielberg, Jocelyn Moorhouse–all boomers. Jane Campion, JJ Abrams, Shawn Levy, Osgood Perkins, Christopher Nolan–all part of the older workforce.
I’m not comparing my colleagues to today’s Hollywood creative geniuses. But I am saying that the ability to tell a compelling story does not disappear when one’s Logan’s Run crystal starts glowing.
Spending is down, budgets and rates are slashed, and opportunities are getting fewer. It’s a tough market out there. Many of us will struggle to find work, and there’s an overflow of applicants for positions.
If you are doing the hiring, please don’t rule out the elder statesman in the mix. Sure, they might not be up on the latest Adobe extension, but if they’re good, they will more than compensate by knowing how to get the project to the finish line.
We are old enough to know better.
