Is capability connected to age? (Column in The Daily Pioneer)

In May 2020, close on the heels of the covid outbreak, my husband lost his job. It was an unexpected knock to take barely a month after he was awarded the best employee. The company that he was serving for the past many years attributed the pink slip to the pandemic, and following it, it was near impossible for him to find another job. In most cases, it seemed as if he was deemed over-age. In the traditional sense, it must be true that 58 years is the time to hang one’s boots, but taking superannuation was far from his mind.

His mental and physical abilities had not dimmed a wee bit and he had many more years of active work life left in him. But it was hard to convince a work culture that was transitioning to a younger demographic about his worthiness. He was soon forced to stop looking for a job and start something of his own. Three years on, it is a decision we don’t regret taking. But there is one thing that I have not been able to decipher.

If a company considers a person to be too old to seek employment at that age, what makes older doyens eligible to seek fresh terms as heads of state? This question is more relevant now after John Biden was forced to step aside following doubts over his diminishing cognitive abilities on various platforms. Biden’s dropping out in no way suggests that his opponent (who is younger by only three years) is more eligible to be the boss at the White House if age is a major criterion for holding responsible positions.

Yet, in public service, it is par for the course for older men and women to push it till economic and social policies allow or they are naturally indisposed. Why is 80 a wholesome number to be at the helm of a state and 60 an age to retire for employees? There is no doubt that the age gap between the highest and lowest denominators at a workplace has widened significantly.

There are concerns about an agile, IT-driven young generation unable to work alongside an older brigade that follows old clunky ways. On this side things, it is still a huge challenge for those used to archaic practices of functioning to adopt digital modes overnight. But experience is something we still cannot discount. On the other hand, we also need a lot of young blood to keep our workplaces vibrant. People age differently.  Their biological age may not be commensurate with their chronological age. In a recent interview on CNN, Anthony Fauci, former chief medical advisor to the President of the United States looked and sounded many times more agile and vigorous at 81 than Biden does. My mother at 77 is much less healthy than a few other relations in their 90s. So to determine people’s capabilities based on the number of summers they have seen is a faulty method.  Our cognitive age and ability to handle the pressures of a job is something only we can gauge.

It is for us to decide if we are fit to handle the responsibilities – be it to serve the nation, run a company or a household. John Biden must have eventually realised that cracks are showing up in his public image and faculties and that stepping aside is the most gracious thing to do, both for his self-esteem and for the sake of his country. Although it had to come after much persuasion, he made the call. Congratulations to him for being rational and accepting ‘it is what it is’.