About 15 years ago, I was inexplicably offered a job at Google—at age 52. At the time, my age reliably put me in the running for “oldest employee.” Still, I was thrilled to be there and worked hard to become known as a good colleague, reliable, energetic, and a quick study. As the company grew, so did our team, and of course many new people (virtually all younger) were hired around me.

One day well into my tenure, I had a quick hallway chat with one of the leaders of our team. As part of my job, she suggested, I should show these newbies how to do some of my everyday tasks. “You know, let the young people do it,” she said.

Karen Wickre is Backchannel's worklife columnist who's enjoyed a long run in Silicon Valley, including at Google and Twitter. She's also a media obsessive, internet lover, and art & dog enthusiast. Sign up to get Backchannel's weekly newsletter.

Let the young people do it: I understood immediately. In this moment, she and I were mature stewards (she’s about 15 years younger, by the way) looking across a verdant landscape of young employees. We two could share a grown-up understanding that the way forward was to give these up-and-comers every chance to learn and grow. As I recall, my reaction at the time was a mental shrug: Yep, that’s how it is.

I’ve thought about that brief exchange a lot since—and it was in no way particular to Google. Age awareness is a funny thing. I’m 66 now and I don’t dye my hair or hide my age. But this confidence comes in part from working in tech businesses for many years, among—and increasingly for—people 10, 20, and even 30 years younger than me. I haven’t always liked it, but it’s the norm. I’m used to it. So used to it, in fact, that I’m quite skeptical of legacy companies that value hierarchy and old-school protocols above all. (You know the ones: They live by “We’ve always done it this way.”) I wouldn’t want to work in a place where management is close to my age without a gold-plated guarantee they share the “Let’s try it and see” outlook of younger companies.

Silicon Valley’s biggest companies pay Karen Wickre for her advice — but at the Help Desk, it’s free to you.

There’s a lot of attention in the business world today on what’s called diversity and inclusion. It’s the idea that companies need to work harder and more persistently to attract, retain, and recognize diverse talent across the spectrum of gender, race, class, and so on. Not only is it the right thing to do, the thinking goes, but it also enhances business by creating a broader mix of people bringing their energies, styles, creativity, and fresh thinking to the job. And we’ve all seen stories of company culture gone wrong when diversity isn’t prioritized.

But there’s one bias that doesn’t get addressed much: age. The very people who might be affected by age discrimination often don’t want to bring it up—especially in Silicon Valley. Let’s face it: Few of us over 40 want to be considered “old” or label ourselves as outsiders. If workers do come forward, age discrimination is very hard to prove, since it’s often hidden by internal reorganizations, budget cuts, and employee “at-will” agreements. The subject of “older workers” can be a legal minefield for companies—to even acknowledge it is to open a Pandora’s box of issues.

We “elders” know perfectly well that our workplaces are by and large not about us. We don’t drive how roles, functions, advancement, and success are seen. Career development options and the hierarchical career ladders everyone is expected to climb are designed for the majority: younger workers.

What can be done? There has to be a systems overhaul before the members of the over-40 crowd can quit worrying about hair dyeing or giving themselves a crash course in pop culture. Almost everyone I know over 40 tends to omit their graduation year from their résumés and eliminate or streamline their past experiences.

Let me suggest a few areas where the olds might get a little more TLC.

1. Socializing

In an era when we’re encouraged to bring our authentic selves to work, after-hours socializing is part of the deal. For older workers (and others who aren’t quite a “culture fit”), tone-deaf get-togethers can cause emotional or logistical havoc. I’ve survived karaoke, rock climbing, and a folkloric overnight ski trip myself. There are good reasons for groups to let off steam and get better acquainted, but please, managers, make sure everyone feels comfortable about socializing in whatever way and at whatever time that you think will be so much fun. As writer and working mom Mikki Kendall observes, “Coworkers can bond over an in-office lunch or an employee picnic that welcomes families just as well, if not better, as they can over a whiskey tasting.” Here’s a good guideline: Team social events shouldn’t require physical prowess or alcoholic excess—so forget paintball and bar crawls. Done right, employee socializing leads to understanding between ages, cultures, genders, and all the rest. Done badly, corporate “fun” can lead to disaffected employees—or worse.