{"id":8883,"date":"2026-04-20T13:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/headway.es\/?p=8883"},"modified":"2026-04-20T13:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:12:09","slug":"art-talent-isnt-the-issue-bias-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/art-talent-isnt-the-issue-bias-is\/","title":{"rendered":"[ART.] TALENT ISN’T THE ISSUE \u2014 BIAS IS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"TALENT ISN’T THE ISSUE \u2014 BIAS IS<\/h3>\n

Article written by Victor Carulla<\/a>, Managing Partner at Headway Executive Search<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

In Spain, nearly half of job seekers admit to having experienced age discrimination\u2014and among those over 45, the figure exceeds 50%.<\/p>\n

Even more striking: 1 in 3 unemployed people is already over 50, and bias affects more than 87% of the population.<\/p>\n

This discrimination typically starts around the age of 45 for specialist, technical, and low\/middle management roles. For Senior Management and C-level positions, it tends to be less pronounced\u2014and when it does appear, it\u2019s usually from 55 onwards.<\/p>\n

We work on projects linked to this latter segment, and that\u2019s precisely where we find the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me<\/em>: professionals aged 45 to 55+.
This is the golden age.<\/p>\n

These individuals bring immense experience. They\u2019ve navigated multiple crises, built resilience, consistency, a global perspective, influence, adaptability\u2014and many more qualities I won\u2019t bore you with.<\/p>\n

Yet, as the workforce ages\u2014with millions of professionals set to exit the market in the coming years without sufficient replacement\u2014we continue to discard senior talent based on outdated and unfounded biases.<\/p>\n

Ageism is often driven by companies themselves. And unfortunately, we witness it more often than we should in this fascinating world of executive search, where I\u2019ve had the privilege of working for over 25 years.<\/p>\n

\n

The real problem isn\u2019t age. It\u2019s the fear of challenging mediocre decisions.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Too often, we see professionals in the so-called \u201cPeople\u201d function:
\n\u2013 Avoid challenging clearly biased business decisions
\u2013 Accept unrealistic briefs (\u201cyounger\u201d, \u201cmore dynamic\u201d)
\u2013 And, in the worst cases, act as mere filter enforcers rather than true strategic advisors<\/p>\n

Being a \u201cbusiness partner\u201d is not about agreeing.
It\u2019s about questioning.
It\u2019s about judgment.
It\u2019s about standing up for talent\u2014even when it\u2019s uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 We consistently present candidates over 55
\ud83d\udc49 In more than half of the cases\u2026 they are the ones who get hired
\ud83d\udc49 And they stay the longest (more than double the average tenure)<\/p>\n

Not because of quotas.
Not because of narrative.
Because of VALUE.<\/p>\n

When bias disappears, talent appears.<\/p>\n

The real problem isn\u2019t age. It\u2019s the fear of challenging mediocre decisions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If we truly want competitive, diverse, and sustainable organizations, we need teams where generations coexist\u2014not where they are excluded.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

If the person is right for the role, forget their age.<\/p>\n

We recently placed a 63-year-old professional in a company with an average age of 36\u2014and it was a resounding success for both sides. It wasn\u2019t easy. The decision was questioned. But HR leadership was brave, stood their ground, and we made it happen.<\/p>\n

The result? The CEO congratulated us for bringing in a fresh perspective. Over the following two years, three more professionals over 55 joined the company.<\/p>\n

And it all starts with something very simple:
having the courage to say, \u201cI don\u2019t agree.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TALENT ISN’T THE ISSUE \u2014 BIAS IS Article written by Victor Carulla, Managing Partner at Headway Executive Search In Spain, nearly half of job seekers admit to having experienced age discrimination\u2014and among those over 45, the figure exceeds 50%. Even more striking: 1 in 3 unemployed people is already over 50, and bias affects more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[378,128,285,288,120],"tags":[298,299,193,196,194,294,201,287,141,364,195],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8883"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8884,"href":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8883\/revisions\/8884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headway.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}