The evidence points out to a solid "yes, it does"
Although age discrimination is illegal in the workplace, agency staffers and recruiters generally agree that youth is frequently favored over experience. Advertising, after all, is obsessed with youth, and in turn, the makeup of agencies is skewed young. It’s most noticeable in the creative department, where even 40 is sometimes seen as over the hill.
Bureau of Labor Statistics Data
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 59 percent of employees in the ad industry are ages 25-44, vs. 50 percent of all workers; the median age of workers in advertising is 38, vs. close to 40 for all workers.
UK Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Data
The U.K.’s Institute of Practitioners in Advertising says only 4 percent of employees in its member agencies are older than 50. And at Grey’s MediaCom in London, for example, 82 percent of the 334 staffers are under 35, while just 1 percent are over 55, according to a Sunday Times profile of the shop.
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