How old is 'old' when it comes to work?

Larry King, 81 years young, is out of retirement and back on the job. Photo / AP

This week I found my first grey hair. Actually, I found it a couple of weeks back and tried showing it to my boss but he couldn't see it so I lost interest. This week my husband spotted it. Then he pulled it out.

You're not supposed to pull grey hairs out. It's not because of that old myth that three greys will grow back in its place. It's just that if you carry on pulling out every grey, you will end up bald, because everything will go grey.

The discovery of my first grey hair seemed an appropriate time to reassess my career prospects. Looking about my industry, I can sort of see what to expect in every upcoming decade until I apparently, and sadly, drop off the face of the Earth around the age of 60.

Next time you turn on your TV check the ages of the people looking back at you. In fact, do it now. If the Home and Away omnibus is still on, you'll see a procession of actors that roughly follow this order: tanned young man with no shirt on, young girl with nice hair, young woman sitting in a cafe, young man running into the cafe, Alf Stewart.

Happy birthday to the man who plays Alf. Ray Meagher turned 71 yesterday. He's lucky he didn't get fired as a result.

Alf is one of only three older folks in a cast of something like 26. Yep, they're tough on their older workers in Australia, but we're not much better. On average, Kiwi nanas and pops are out of their jobs by 67.

PwC released a bit of research this week on how older employees are faring in the workforce.

Pretty generously, PwC gave us a slap on the back and told us New Zealand is the second best in the whole world for letting oldies keep their jobs. Then you read on and it's not so flash.

It turns out, PwC considers "old" to be anyone between the ages of 55 and 64. That's not old.

Larry King is old. Larry King is 81, back out of retirement and taking another crack at his job.

PwC reckons we should try to keep older workers in their jobs.

Grey-haired folk like Larry King have decades of experience filed away in their heads. They could tell those smart young managers in the office what happened the last time someone tried to implement the clever idea they think they're the first to dream up.

They could teach us younger folks a few tricks of the trade. They could attract older customers who feel more comfortable dealing with someone who's lived through what they have.

And, personally, I'd rather have a nurse with wrinkles than one just, like, dying to snapchat a shot of my stitches to her bestie.

But how do we get people in their golden years to stay working? Well, it's not a new idea but PwC said it again: change the pension. Let people pick when they want their super. If they want it from age 61, that's cool. They just get a little less every week. If they wait until 70, bingo, they get a little more in every pay.

I'd venture this is as much about getting older folks to put off their own retirement, as it is about getting the rest of us to reassess what we think old is. Sixty-seven is not old enough to tell someone they're past their prime.

It's only a few short years until my hair is all grey. I'd like to think I'd still have a job when that happens.