I've noticed older works really struggle with anything that involves writing. They're great as long as everything is a phone call or a meeting, but the moment they need to sit down and write something it's like they suffer brain damage and the keyboard burns them to touch it.
I am reading it, and I struggle with verbal communication because I have to shift through the social chit chat to find what they actually want me to do for them, and I also have to take notes during the interaction. All things solved by writing it down in an email instead.
I work in IT. The reduced neuroplasticity is a thing we noticed, especially as they approach new IT processes.
we need our elders to show us why some new products (like the one we call Lennart's Cancer) is wrong-headed
they still need to work
learning is slower, but they leverage their 40 years of meta-experience to great effect.
Maybe they should retire, if they can. Maybe we recognize where their strengths have changed and make use of them accordingly.
I know mentorship and working-lead posts are few, but that's kinda how we got where we are now. If you think we should ditch the one group who will champion fair labour and bring the proverbial receipts, then you may need to check your limbs for puppet-strings.