Matt Dewar • January 23, 2026

The Rise in Age of New Hires

An aerial view of a basketball stadium filled with people watching a game.

It is news to no one that the job market is extremely tight right now. It takes months for qualified candidates to land new jobs, especially for recent graduates and young employees. In fact, the average age of a new hire in 2025 was 42 years old.

This past year saw the continuation of a sharp decline in the number of workers under the age of 25 starting new positions. This mirrors the trend of the last 10 years, contributing to a decline in this demographic amounting to almost 10%.

Alternatively, there was a significant increase in workers over the age of 65 who entered a new position, with an increase in this demographic of almost 80% (!) during the same period.

This trend is interesting as it was noted by Revelio’s chief economist, Lisa Simon, that usually when the labour markets tighten, young employees hoping to land entry-level positions are still successful. However, that is not what is currently happening, with companies prioritizing experience over all else and are willing to pay premium for it.

So, what does this mean? Notably, if you’re older and in the later stages of your career, this is arguably one of the first times that the job market is in your favour if you want to leave your current job and start a new position. Employers are now favouring employees with experience over their prospective longevity with the company.

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