Allegations of ageism — or discrimination against older job seekers and employees — abound in the workplace today, with equally unfortunate consequences for businesses (like this recent $2.4 million settlement) and people alike. Apple, Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Tesla and Twitter, among today's most sought-after employers, have all been cited, and one former Google exec recalled being referred to as "an old fuddy duddy" whose ideas were "too old to matter."
So what's particularly interesting for CFOs — and even for CFOs in tech — is that the storyline is playing out quite differently.
Consider Facebook and Snap, for example, both blue-chip tech startups with high-profile young founders. Despite that fact, at the time of their IPOs, both companies deferred to older, more seasoned finance pros for leadership — CFOs who were 42 and 39 at the time of IPO, respectively. (And if that sounds young-ish, note that Facebook's average employee is 28, so 42 still counts as something of an outlier.)
More broadly, this is part and parcel of the higher-level narrative for finance heads, with the average age of CFOs increasing by more than 14 percent in recent years. In other words, CFOs aren't getting any younger, and that's perfectly fine — it isn't diminishing their employment prospects. If anything, in fact, it seems that organizations more than ever are recognizing the value of seasoned CFOs, even those nearing retirement age, for their firsthand leadership experience. And for candidates themselves, given that more than 80 percent of new CFOs are external hires, it’s equally clear that taking on a new role is the fastest path to advancement.