The waves that the issue of ageism in the design market made were a total surprise to me. They even spilled into the marketing industry via a remark by Pavel Tayanovskyi, who has my infinite respect. 

The Ukrainian design, creative, and marketing markets are all about younger specialists. Designers over 40 are considered out of commission, put on the back burner, and left to die. The 80 comments under my Facebook post were full of this pain, fear, and attempts to devise a solution. 

“All I hear during the interviews is ‘Sorry, we are looking for specialists in their twenties for our young team,’ and ‘You are overqualified for this position, we are looking for young talent only,’” my colleagues wrote. Sure, you can always go freelance, establish a company, or lie about your age, shaving a dozen years in the résumé, if you have the looks. 

New generations will always be vying for your attention, no doubt about that. It's not their problem. The “young lions” will come and push their way through, and it's OK because they are the future. There are very successful youth brands—we even have some of them in our portfolio. Nowadays, I consciously balance my team with young, middle-aged, and older specialists. I have people in their twenties, thirties, forties, and even fifties. This way, I can offer a more balanced solution to the client. 

According to the 2020 “digital census,” people over 55 account for 30% of the Ukrainian population (the last official census dates back to 2001, with people over 50 accounting for 32.3%). The population is growing older, like everywhere in the world. The active phase of our lives is now much longer than ever. These people are all FMCG brand buyers that constitute effective demand in the mass market. 

A seasoned specialist knows and feels them perfectly. Besides, a mature specialist realizes that trends are short-lived. In branding, you have to play a long game: over the course of 5 or 7 years, you need to gradually teach buyers and build the visual codes they will attribute to the brand. 

One would think that such professionals would be in stronger demand. In reality, though, I see that finding a job in the advertising industry is problematic for older people. At some point, their age alone will make them look unfit for work. 

Mind you, this kind of ageism runs rampant specifically in the post-Soviet states. The global masters, by which we all swear, these household names with loads of experience, are all older people. 

During the Soviet era, designers were sophisticated people, “the agents of capitalism” who brought the attributes of the Western world to the USSR. My dad is a designer, and I remember the free and artistic crowd that were his friends. I took shape as a designer and a person in the 1990s myself. 

I don't insist that older people do better as professionals. If someone is stuck in the past and refuses to adjust to the changes, they are a lost cause to me, I will never hire them. However, getting hold of an open-minded, academically trained specialist with 20 years of experience is a true stroke of fortune. 

I am not talking about gen X being reliable and gen Z—irresponsible. We regularly have interns from among the students of big-name universities with creative specializations, and some of them are indeed responsible, talented, and mature enough. What I am trying to say is that throwing away a résumé the moment you see “Age: 47” there is unacceptable. Talk to the candidate first. Everything depends on their personality, including such simple signs of adjustability as a modern résumé and looks. 

In my view, it is a mistake to undervalue older professionals this tremendously.