I'm pretty sure ageism in tech boils down to this point. People who have been in the industry longer have better nest eggs and can simply leave at any point, so they won't crunch for you.
I recently asked an interviewer (on the 4th and final stage of their ~~gatekeeping~~ interview process during my very last interview when I got to the final boss of this dumb ass game -- the Senior Staff Software Engineer of the team I was interviewing with) if they "did" crunch. His face contorted a bit, it was obvious that I had hit on something. He said yes, frequently, in fact, and that they are "very busy" and "have crunch periods" typically in Q1 and Q4 of _each year_.
I asked him if there were planning process improvements that could be made to reduce the necessity of crunch periods. He sighed at me, turned his head to look out the window next to him, and then gave me a few sentences of tangentially related anecdotes about their planning process and why it's "hard" "because of customers."
It was already clear to me that I didn't want the job if they made me an offer at this point. Thankfully they saved me from having to say so. The recruiter called me a week later to say, "We've decided to move forward with other candidates who we feel are a better match for this particular position."
All I can think to myself at this point is, "I'm too old for this shit."
Not where I live(Europe). Older people I know, without inheritance, who don't come from money (this makes a big difference), tend to have families and took on expensive mortgages, sometimes even a house in the suburbs, so they just put up with huge amounts of toxicity and overtime for the sake of providing a high standard of living for their families, while younger single people have nothing tying them down, often living frugally in shared accommodations, so if you shit on them, they can just pack up and leave whenever, whereever.
On the other side of the spectrum, people I know with any real estate inheritance, tend to not take part in the rat race and just take any chill (governmet)job they can find, as having their housing already covered, means they only need some money for food and bills so they can focus on enjoying life.
