Survey: Tight Job Market, Internet Start-Up Craze Erasing Age Bias

A year ago almost 60% of job-hunting executives and executive search firms felt that age bias worked against executives older than 50 who were looking for a job. What a difference a year makes. When it conducted the same survey this year, Exec-U-Net, a Norwalk, Conn.-based Internet job information company found that only 36% of job-hunting execs between ages 51 and 55 felt that their age played a critical role in their job search. Likewise, only 30% of the executive search firms felt that there was an age bias against executives over age 50. Two reasons: the tight job market and new Internet companies and venture-capital backed start-ups who are seeking "senior level executives who bring valuable business experience and maturity to young entrepreneurial teams," says Exec-U-Net executive director Dave Opton.