WE may still be the person called when something goes wrong, yet find our concerns dismissed when decisions are being made.
We are expected to carry responsibility, update our skills and accept new approaches. What becomes difficult is doing all this while wondering whether our experience still deserves a hearing.
Workplaces are preparing for substantial changes in skills. In the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, surveyed employers expected 39% of workers’ core skills to change by 2030.
For experienced professionals, the challenge is to keep learning while ensuring that useful judgement remains part of the conversation.
Generational tensions can deepen when calls for change leave people feeling their contribution has been discounted. How do we respond to that hurt without becoming defensive or withdrawing?
Learning to manage that tension helps protect our dignity and willingness to contribute. It also matters to institutions whose future depends on keeping valuable knowledge available.
In academia, scrutiny is familiar. Papers are reviewed, proposals challenged and teaching assessed. We can accept that our work needs examination and still object when an argument is dismissed through an assumption about our age.
We can expect our reasoning to be considered carefully, even when someone reaches a different conclusion.
AARP’s 2025 survey of 1,656 Americans aged 50 and over who were working or seeking work found that one in five reported older employees’ accomplishments or expertise going unacknowledged as a form of subtle age discrimination.
The finding concerns workplace age bias; it does not identify any particular generation as responsible.
Dismissal can bring older disappointments into the present. We remember criticisms we absorbed quietly, responsibilities we carried and occasions when support was unavailable.
Sometimes our anger expresses a wish that someone would acknowledge how difficult those years were. Being told to adapt can sound like another request to absorb the discomfort ourselves.
This helps explain the appeal of G. Michael Hopf’s quotation from Those Who Remain: “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And weak men create hard times.”
For someone whose confidence was built through difficulty, the line offers recognition. Recognising the effort behind our own resilience need not mean declaring a whole generation weak. We can still expect discipline, persistence and the ability to receive reasonable correction.
When those qualities are missing, the behaviour needs addressing. That gives us something to act on, beyond wishing others understood what we endured.
A practical way to handle these encounters is to pause, assess, respond and renew.
Pause: Acknowledge what hurt before deciding what to say. Was it the criticism, the tone or the feeling that our experience no longer counts? Allowing ourselves a moment can help us identify what needs attention. We can take the feeling seriously while choosing how to express it.
Assess: Separate the criticism of the work from the way it was delivered. There may be a useful point, dismissive behaviour or both. Ask whether we are defending a necessary standard or a method that could improve. Our experience deserves consideration and our argument still needs to hold up.
Respond: Ask, “What specifically needs to change, and why?” Explain the reasoning behind our position and acknowledge a valid point. Where necessary, set a boundary: “I am willing to review the approach. I also expect the discussion to remain respectful.” When disrespect continues, the manager should examine specific examples, address the behaviour and ensure fair participation.
Renew: Decide where to direct our effort next. We might improve a method, learn something unfamiliar or share a lesson with a colleague willing to listen. As roles change, we can find new ways to contribute. The next useful step gives us somewhere to go beyond replaying the remark.
This may take time. The American Psychological Association explains that resilience does not mean being free from distress. We can handle an exchange well and remain hurt. Recognising that allows us to seek support without treating our feelings as another failure.
The consequences also extend beyond the individual. Someone repeatedly overlooked may gradually offer fewer explanations, warnings and lessons from experience.
An institution can begin losing access to knowledge before the person who holds it has left. That possibility makes the treatment of experienced people a concern for social sustainability.
The UN Global Compact places organisations’ impacts on people at the centre of social sustainability. Respectful treatment also matters in its own right. People deserve a fair hearing while their skills develop and their responsibilities change, whether or not their knowledge is considered irreplaceable.
Deloitte’s 2026 Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey found that 54% of Gen Z respondents and 60% of millennials believed their team could maintain performance with little disruption if a key expert retired tomorrow. These figures describe confidence in readiness. They invite organisations to examine whether knowledge is being preserved.
Leaders have responsibilities. Make time for mentoring, recognise contributions and include experienced colleagues in relevant decisions.
Record why an approach succeeded or failed, so others can examine and update it. Asking people to share their knowledge while routinely dismissing their judgement sends a contradictory message about its value.
Sustainable thinking starts within and becomes visible in how we work together. We can examine our reactions, remain open to learning and choose a constructive response.
Institutions must provide fair conditions for that contribution. Regeneration takes practical form when people can develop as roles change and their knowledge remains available.
Time eventually brings unfamiliar expectations to everyone. The person who feels certain today will also encounter approaches they did not introduce. We can accept that our influence changes while continuing to expect a fair hearing.
We can also stop seeking reassurance from someone unwilling to acknowledge what we offer.
Our experience has value beyond one person’s approval. Accepting change gracefully means keeping the freedom to learn, respond firmly and contribute meaningfully.
We can make room for change while remembering that one moment of disrespect need not become the story we tell ourselves about a lifetime of effort.
Dr Praveena Rajendra is the author of Mindprint: Engineering Inner Power for Growth, Purpose and Regeneration. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com