Older Workers Are Building New Tech Skills, AARP-LinkedIn Research Finds

Exclusive study shows those age 50-plus are gaining ground on younger groups

Kenneth Terrell,

AARP

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Published December 09, 2025

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One key to getting a new job now is showing that you know your way around new technologies such as generative AI. An exclusive new report from LinkedIn and AARP reveals that workers ages 50 and older are keeping up, essentially closing the tech gap with their younger peers.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from LinkedIn’s platform, including user profiles and LinkedIn Learning trainings, to see how workers from different age groups are helping each other — and their employers — grow. The study found that workers 50 and older bring stability, leadership and adaptability to the workplace, skills that not only boost their individual careers but also strengthen mixed-age teams, develop younger workers' skills and help businesses manage challenges.

“Employers who embrace and support a multigenerational workforce and encourage collaboration between older and younger workers have the potential to drive better business outcomes,” said Matthew Baird, senior staff economist for LinkedIn. "When the skills and strengths of people from different generations are combined, both workers and employers stand to benefit ─ from higher retention rates, stronger teams, and greater innovation.”

More older workers touting tech chops

The skills employers value most are shifting, and the AARP and LinkedIn study found that workers in the 50-plus age group could be well-positioned to succeed in this changing environment.

LinkedIn profile data shows that many older workers possess a broad set of valuable job skills, such as leadership, strategic planning, project management and communication, that can be used in a variety of roles and are difficult to automate.

But workers age 50-plus are gaining ground on their younger peers in tech skills, too. While older professionals historically have listed tech skills in their profiles less frequently than younger workers, they are closing the gap. For example, over the past five years, the number of workers age 50 and over who listed technologies like AI in their job skills increased by 25 percent, nearly double the growth rate for younger workers.

As older workers expand their tech skill sets and connect them with the soft skills they’ve developed over decades of work, they could be well-positioned to shift into AI-resilient roles

“This report demonstrates that older workers are increasing their tech skills, debunking outdated assumptions about older workers and technology.” said Debra Whitman, executive vice president and chief public policy officer for AARP. “Employers reap the rewards when workplaces include workers of all ages and offer training and upskilling opportunities to all employees.”

More key takeaways

Here are some other key findings from the study. which drew on five years of data from Linkedin's platform.

Older workers tend to stick with employers longer. Among people hired in June 2024, 85.4 percent of those 50 and older were still with their employer one year later, compared to 70.6 percent of younger hires.

LinkedIn data also shows that older workers have spent an average of 2.2 times more time at their current firm than younger workers.

They are keen to learn new skills. Younger workers are still more likely to use LinkedIn training tools, but older adults are quickly catching up. In 2022, younger workers were 13.5 percent more likely to participate in LinkedIn Learning trainings, but by 2025, the gap had narrowed to just 1.6 percent.

Between 2022 and 2025, the share of LinkedIn Learning sessions for technology topics grew faster for older workers. In 2022, roughly 19.5 percent of all trainings the 50-plus took were tech-related. That number increased to 26.6 percent in 2025.

They are well-connected. 

Workers 50 and older have professional networks that are 20.4 percent larger and include more higher-ranking people than those of younger workers.

They bring leadership experience. Workers 50 and up have spent 18.5 years in leadership roles, on average, compared to 7.7 years for younger professionals. Given the time it takes to ascend to leadership positions, the difference is not surprising, but it shows another valuable attribute older adults can bring to new jobs.

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Kenneth Terrell covers employment, age discrimination, work and jobs, careers, and the federal government for AARP. He previously worked for the Education Writers Association and U.S. News & World Report, where he reported on government and politics, business, education, science and technology, and lifestyle news.