Attention CIOs: Hold the hair dye. A new human resource study predicts that senior tech managers will have better career opportunities and be in high demand in just a few short years--that is, if they play their "experience" and "flexibility" cards right. In direct contrast to longtime assertions that the elder tech professional population has long been discriminated against and pushed aside in favour of younger, and cheaper, IT staff, Drake Beam Morin (DBM), a New York City human resource firm, says experienced professionals will soon be a hot staffing commodity. That's a welcome message to longtime CIOs worried about tenure and senior tech leaders looking to advance in the next few years. To get some insight and feedback on this latest staffing prediction, TechRepublic talked with three experts: John Fink, DBM's CFO; Pam Wiedenbeck, western regional manager with SEI Information Technology; and Jai Shekhawat, CEO and cofounder of Fieldglass, a software maker. While the experts suggested varying reasons for the hiring shift, they all agree that older tech leaders provide three valuable staff attributes: flexibility, experience, and networking skills. The buzz about baby boomers As member discussions on TechRepublic attest, the term "old" is extremely relative when it comes to the technology industry, as members state that some hiring managers consider age 35 to be old. There also has been a long, and raging, industry debate regarding age discrimination and the impact of younger, cheaper, immigrant labor. But several factors, including the terrorist acts last fall, are prompting dramatic hiring changes, according to DBM. The firm suggests that older workers' experience and flexibility will result in a leveled playing field between older workers and Gen Xers, people born from the early 1960s to the late 1970s. One logical reason for the shift is that there will be more "seniors" in the work pool than ever. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor, predicts significant growth for the baby boomer generation (those born between 1946 and 1964) and that the 50-and-over civilian labour force will grow 46 percent by 2010. Another factor is an expected skills shortage in the second half of this year, says Shekhawat, who is also cofounder of IT20 and a former consultant with McKinsey & Company. He expects companies will be actively seeking an experienced pool of workers to fill project needs. "I think older workers, in general, are an underappreciated source of talent, especially in times of resource scarcity," says Shekhawat. "[One reason for that is because] they're often incorrectly thought of as being 'behind the curve' or not current with technologies." Click here for section two. TechRepublic is the online community and information resource for all IT professionals, from support staff to executives. We offer in-depth technical articles written for IT professionals by IT professionals. In addition to articles on everything from Windows to email to fire walls, we offer IT industry analysis, downloads, management tips, discussion forums, and e-newsletters.