Stop Undervaluing Veteran Software Engineers
When fellow MVP David McCarter published the second part of his series on veteran software engineers on Sunday, he didn’t just echo the concerns many of us have been raising for years—he laid out a manifesto that every engineering manager and executive needs to read. If you’re in a hiring position and not actively considering seasoned professionals, you are likely costing your organization far more than you’re saving.
Let me be clear: I’m not here to rehash everything David said. You should read his full piece (and his first post, with my response). But I want to build on the truths he unpacked, because they expose the deep cracks in how tech leaders approach hiring, retention, and the use of senior talent. In my 30+ years of working in technology, from global enterprises and venture capital-backed startups to the dozen-people consulting company, I’ve witnessed all of this first-hand.
Ageism Isn’t Just Unethical—It’s Bad Business
McCarter calls it the “elephant in the server room,” and he’s right: ageism in tech is rampant. It’s illegal, yes. But more than that, it’s irrational. Disqualifying a candidate based on age instead of capability ignores the very qualities that senior engineers bring—strategic judgment, architectural foresight, calm under pressure, and mentorship.
Think you’re building a “young, hungry” team? If you don’t balance that with experienced leadership, you’re setting yourself up for churn, burnout, and brittle systems. I’ve seen teams of juniors grind for months on problems that a senior engineer could have prevented with a single architectural decision.
The Myth That Veteran Engineers Don’t Learn
David’s article dismantles the stereotype that older engineers don’t keep up with tech. I want to add this: learning isn’t age-bound—it’s culture-bound. I’ve worked with 25-year-old engineers who resist every new tool and with 60-year-olds who are beta-testing the latest frameworks before they hit general availability. Even closer to home – here I am with a rapidly graying head of hair and the majority of my billable hours are being spent training teams on the latest in AI technology.
If your interview process filters out older candidates because you assume they’re not current, your process is broken. Ask better questions. Probe how they learn. What newsletters do they read? What projects have they tinkered with recently? Do they speak at meetups? Publish on GitHub? These are the same indicators you’d use (or should use) with any candidate.
Pay Isn’t the Problem You Think It Is
Another key point David raised is the fear that veteran engineers expect sky-high salaries. But this fear is outdated. Yes, experienced engineers know their worth. But many are in different life phases. They may be open to remote work, fractional roles, mentoring positions, or simply choosing impact over income.
Hiring managers often assume a senior candidate won’t accept a role that pays less than their last job. News flash: priorities change. What matters more is whether the work is meaningful and the culture is sane. Offer flexibility, respect, and a mission that matters, and you’ll be surprised who says yes. Personally, I’d take a pay cut to work on technology that I am passionate about, or with a founder or team that I believe in (more stock is always great, too).
Companies Are Misusing Senior Talent
The most painful part of David’s article, and one I’ve seen too often, is how companies misuse the senior engineers they do hire. They get treated like interchangeable coders, pushed into backlog-churn roles with no say in architecture or strategy. While I’m not against veterans having to get their hands dirty—it’s not the way to get the greatest value out of your team.
You don’t hire a veteran because they can write code fast (though they often can). You hire them because they know which code not to write. Because they prevent technical debt. Because they’ve seen five ways to do it wrong and can guide the team to the one that works.
If you’re not pulling these folks into early design conversations, if you’re not using them to mentor, if you’re not letting them set standards—you’re wasting your budget and missing out on organizational acceleration.
The Startup Myth and Cultural Fit Nonsense
“Fast-paced startup culture” and “high energy” are just euphemisms for overwork and disorganization. When job descriptions fetishize youth, speed, and “nights and weekends,” you’re not just alienating veteran engineers—you’re warning off any candidate who values sustainability and long-term impact.
McCarter is right to call this out. Real innovation comes from teams with a mix of perspectives. You need the ambitious early-career devs and the steady senior hands who can see five steps ahead. If you think “culture fit” means “everyone here is 28 and single,” you’re building a monoculture that will implode.
What You Should Actually Be Doing
If you’re in a leadership or hiring role, here are five things you can start doing right now:
- Audit Your Job Descriptions: Remove coded language that implies age bias. Stop glorifying burnout.
- Revamp Your Interview Process: Focus less on trivia and more on system design, communication, and adaptability.
- Offer Flexible Roles: Not every senior engineer wants a 60-hour grind. Fractional leadership, mentorship-focused roles, and part-time gigs are huge untapped opportunities.
- Involve Veteran Engineers in Strategy: Use them early in project planning. They’ll save you from architectural disasters.
- Build Multigenerational Teams: The best teams mix youth and experience. Make mentorship a first-class engineering practice.
The idea that veteran engineers are liabilities is not just wrong—it’s backwards. They’re force multipliers. They reduce risk, increase velocity, and uplevel everyone around them.
If you’re not seeing that value, the problem isn’t with the engineer. It’s with how you’re using them—or failing to.
David McCarter’s 2-part series is a wake-up call. Let’s stop ignoring the people who already know how to build what we keep failing to deliver. Stop sidelining experience. Start putting it to work. Your future team will thank you.
