"I moved from academia over a decade ago, and I know the difference"

Pressures are different indeed, but let's not pretend academia of all places is any less "priviledged"

Btw, most professors age well into retirement. Trying to find a software engineer over 55 is looking for a needle in a haystack that definitely will not make it past the next boom/bust cycle.

Agism in this field is endemic, probably the worst of any in knowledge work.