I’d wager that two of the factors might be that some got “too comfy” and didn’t produce what was expected, and some had solid ethics and morals that were at odds with management - worked hard and did great but were forced for political reason....then there were those who fit the parameters of the meme of the article.
More likely after years of working they are higher paid and the company wants to lower costs. Also medical costs are higher in older workers.
At the risk of offending some and tempting fate because I am in the same bucket - mid 50s in an executive position - here are my observations.
Yes, there is definitely a productivity curve with regard to just about any position. The best work is often done early in the curve and after a time, the productivity peaks and then declines proportional to years in a given position. Employees tend to put themselves on remote control after a number of years in a position, get into a comfort zone, and while it may not be perceptible to them that their performance is declining, it is usually obvious to others.
That said, there certainly are employees who maintain a high level of productivity in the same position year after year. They they are in the minority. I find in my business that 7 years seems to be maximum effective time for a given position. After that, it's time to move up or move out.
In my own experience, I was a branch manager up in Boston for nearly 10 years. I was perfectly fine where I was and would have gladly worked that job for retirement. And to be honest, I was mailing it in on some days because the job of running a branch office became so easy for me (just hire good people under you!).
But when Regional VP job came up, I saw the handwriting on the wall and went ahead and applied for it. Even though it meant a move to New York, I saw myself in a "static" position up in Boston and I just didn't have the passion for the job I used to. By staying, I could well have been setting myself up for a pink slip. So moving to the higher position was the best move. Even though the cost of living down here wiped out most of my raise, my career was re-invigorated and I had sufficient challenges to keep me busy all the time. Also, the person who took my place in Boston is similarly re-energized Today, despite being in my mid-50s, I am much more valuable to the company as a Regional VP than I was as a branch manager 5 years ago. Now I do not take my job for granted. Over the next few years, I'm going to have to make a choice. Either go for the next rung on the ladder (or perhaps a lateral move to corporate) or go out on retirement. So again, I'm coming into another "move up or move out" situation.
Now I hope making this post doesn't jinx me and I walk into work next week to a pink slip!
Another challenge "more seasoned" employees have is keeping up with technology. Despite my age, I keep up with the emails, texts and social media of my younger colleagues as well as all the mobile apps. It's a matter of survival to me. Too many others in my age group took almost a pride in spurning all the technological changes (i.e. "I'm not carry no cellphone") and most of them red-slipped themselves into involuntary early retirement.