Maybe, but this feels like making excuses for something that is part of a big and obvious pattern. FWIW, ageism is the one form of outright and open discrimination that I have witnessed in tech companies. None of the unconscious bias, microagession, dog whistle, tone stuff. Just straight up insulting people in the open to their face for their age. And I’ve seen it done to justify crappier technical solutions. The problem is real and out in the open. No need for elaborate excuses.