WHEN I WAS a young reporter, ageism was a faraway notion which didn’t apply to me. Now I’m older and, perhaps, wiser, I see things more clearly.

The changing jobs market is borne out by the stories pouring into The Journal today from readers who have experienced the sharp edges of ageism as they look for employment in their 50s, an outpouring prompted by the experience of former Elle editor turned jobseeker, Stacey Duguid, as related on her social media.

Duguid, 53, spoke about her experience of sending 150 applications but receiving no response from 150 prospective employers, which is a shocking indictment of these firms for their lack of basic courtesy and overreliance on AI.

Employers seem to think that they hold all the cards; after all, they could, for instance, devolve the work they envisage their new employee would be carrying out to an AI agent.

I am now 59 and will be celebrating my sixtieth birthday shortly. My experience with ageism doesn’t come close to that suffered by Duguid, but I have felt it.

The most recent brush with it came earlier this year. My current contract is coming to an end in August and, anxious to ensure future employment, I had responded to an advertisement with a former employer in the expectation that I would at least get an invitation to an interview. We had parted on good terms in the past.

The letter from the HR executive was to the point:

Thank you for your recent application for the role of News Reporter in the XXXXX.

Unfortunately, you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. We have moved........

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