For job seekers in their 40s and beyond, the current economic climate could make finding work tougher.

On the other hand, it might be that age has its advantages. Particularly when the business picture turns cloudy, some employers put a premium on seasoned workers who bring steadiness and wisdom to the job.

Still, there's no question that age discrimination remains a workplace reality. And older workers may be especially vulnerable when the economy cools.

"In a downturn like this, a lot of companies go for the layoffs, and they go to the people making the most money – the senior people," says Jan Robinson, a former Delaware state labor secretary who now heads the Delaware office of AARP, the advocacy group for older Americans. At the federal level, she says, complaints of age bias in the workplace increased 14 percent last year.

Thrown back into the job market, older job seekers often take longer to find work than their younger counterparts do. Last year, a person over 55 typically spent 19 weeks looking for a job, compared with 12 weeks for someone under 55, Robinson says.

That might be simply because the job seeker is holding out for a salary as hefty as his last one. "The older worker often is used to earning much more, so it's possible he's going to take longer in finding a new job. He's not going to take the first thing that becomes available," state labor analyst Ed Simon says.

But sometimes, it's employers' attitudes that put up barriers against older workers.

Some think of older workers as set in their ways, and old-fashioned ways at that. "With younger workers, employers may feel there won't be as much baggage," Simon says. "The employer can train them, and the newer worker won't have a lot of preconceived notions."

Likewise, some employers consider older workers as hide-bound technophobes, leery of computers and other high-tech tools.

But, ahem – "I beg to differ," protests Grace Giuffre, 52, of Newark.

"I fell in love with computers as soon as I realized I wouldn't have to make carbon copies any more. I'm not afraid of them, and I'm not afraid to learn anything on them," she says. The former legal secretary and Brooklyn resident last year started as a receptionist at Foxfire Printing & Packaging, where she now works collecting overdue accounts.

John Ferretti, CEO of the Newark-based company, is just 40 himself. But an expanding company such as his needs older, experienced workers at all levels, he says. For instance, Ferretti last summer took on vice president Frederick Light, 55, putting to use Light's decades of lessons learned in business operations.

"If you want to grow a business rapidly, and you have a lot of young people, you may find you grow the business faster than you can grow the skill sets of those people," Ferretti says. "I found if I brought in senior people who were maybe overqualified to begin with, the company could grow and we weren't worried about outpacing their skills."

He points to the carnage among Internet startups: "The dot-coms had great ideas, but they didn't have a lot of business acumen – so a lot of them failed. If you don't have people with business experience, you're not going to be able to grow."

Says Robinson: "A balanced work force is always better. You need the energy younger people bring, but you need people with the experience to see the broader picture."

Granted, a senior employee is likely to cost an employer more in salary and benefits. But "hiring two people at $30,000 per year doesn't mean you're going to produce twice as much as if you hire one guy at $60,000," Ferretti says: Sometimes the veteran "can turn out a heck of a lot more work."

Foxfire isn't the only employer putting a premium on seasoned workers, says David Freschman, president of the Delaware Innovation Fund, which invests in young companies such as Ferretti's.

"A lot of young entrepreneurs are hiring senior guys," he says. "It's one of the least expensive investments you can make in your company. You get years of experience."

Tough economic times may make an experienced worker even more attractive to employers. "You don't have to train a person. You get someone who can immediately start contributing," says Sheldon Sandler, who heads the employment law division of Wilmington law firm Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor.

"If they've got a track record, you're not quite as unsure whether they're going to work out," he says. "They're more of a known quantity."

Still, in a slow market older job seekers may find it even harder to match their past salary levels. "In a booming economy, employers are forced to pay more to attract workers, " Simon says. "In a sluggish economy, the advantage definitely swings back to the employer."

And especially for workers who change careers, "you're probably not going to make the same salary" as at an earlier job, Robinson says.

She tells older job seekers to take a realistic look at what their skills are worth to an employer. "Saying that you have years of experience is not enough. It's the skills you have, how you've applied them, how they apply to the new situation." And if job skills have slipped behind the times, Robinson urges, "invest the time and money to get them current."

Older applicants "must show the ability and willingness to learn," Simon says. "Most jobs now are so dependent on technology, it's just a must. But if you have an older worker who has good technical skills, and the ability to change, it's really going to be a plus."

Job-market watcher Joe Bruccoleri advises: "Pay attention to which employers have a track record of hiring without regard to age. You can find that out by networking." Often, smaller companies are more likely to value the depth of skills gained over years, says Bruccoleri, a strategist for Boston-based human resources consultants Drake Beam Morin.

He's looking beyond the current job picture to a decade ahead, when some 65 million Americans will approach retirement age – at the same time the supply of younger workers dwindles.

"Beginning in 2012, the [U.S.] Bureau of Labor Statistics says we will have more people leaving the work force than coming in," he says. "That's pretty telling."

If so, employers will have little chance to favor younger workers over older ones, regardless of the reason. Also, a tight labor market could push salaries upward. "If you look at the long-term trend," Bruccoleri says, "I think older workers are in a pretty good position."