> willingness to grind through problems is also probably lower
Maybe I misunderstand what you’re saying here but I don’t think this is fair. An older worker should know to put the problem down at 5 PM and walk away from it, but that doesn’t mean they’re unwilling to work on a problem they haven’t solved before.
At least, I hope some day when I’m an elderly ex convict that I will still be able and willing to solve new problems.