When optimizing the team structure, any age-based decision-making may involve legal risks and ethical disputes. Age discrimination not only violates the labor laws of many countries and regions (such as the United States "Anti-Employment Age Discrimination Act" (ADEA), the European Union's Equal Treatment Directive, and China's "Labor Law" and "Employment Promotion Law"), it may also damage corporate reputation, employee morale and long-term development. Therefore, it is recommended to adopt the following more legal, fair and sustainable strategies： --- ###1. **Legal and ethical compliance is preferred** 1. **Clarify legal risks** Any layoffs based on age may be found to be discrimination, leading to litigation and high compensation. It is necessary to strictly comply with local labor regulations and ensure that all decisions are based on objective and quantifiable criteria (such as performance, skills, business needs, etc.). 2. **Avoid hidden biases** There is no direct causal relationship between age and work efficiency. Studies have shown that older employees often have unique values in terms of experience, stability, cross-departmental collaboration, and mentorship. Employee contributions should be evaluated through data (such as project results, KPIs, and customer feedback) rather than subjective impressions. --- ###2.**Ability-based team optimization plan** 1. **Assessment of skill and job matching** -Analyze the team's ability gaps through the skill matrix to identify the fit between the skills of all employees (regardless of age) and future business needs. -Provide training, transfer opportunities or mentor guidance to employees with insufficient skills, rather than direct elimination. 2. **Transparency of performance management** -Establish a clear performance evaluation system, give regular feedback and record the results. -Initiate an improvement plan (PIP) for long-term low-performing employees (regardless of age), and if they still do not meet the standards, they will be dealt with in accordance with legal procedures. 3. **Optimize job design** -Redefine job responsibilities, such as using the experience of senior employees to train new people, process optimization, or strategic planning, rather than front-line execution. --- ###3. **Promote intergenerational collaboration and knowledge inheritance** 1. **Build a diversified team** Mixing employees of different ages and taking advantage of intergenerational complementarity: for example, the combination of the digital skills of young employees and the experience and judgment of older employees can improve the efficiency of innovation. 2. **Systematization of knowledge management** -Establish an internal knowledge base to encourage older employees to share experiences (such as case review, industry insights). -Through the "reverse mentoring system", young employees can help senior members master new technology tools. --- ###4. **Alternative solutions** 1. **Flexible retirement plan** Provide voluntary early retirement options or switch to a consultant role to retain key experience while reducing labor costs. 2. **Workflow and technology upgrade** Introduce automated tools (such as AI, RPA) to replace repetitive work, rather than relying on layoffs. For example, after a bank reduced manual operations through a digital process, it transferred senior employees to customer relationship management, which improved customer satisfaction. --- ###5. **Communication and humanistic care in implementation** 1. **Transparent communication** Explain to all employees that the optimization goal is to "improve organizational effectiveness”, not to target specific groups to avoid panic and misunderstandings. 2. **Resignation support** If layoffs are required, re-employment counseling, vocational training or entrepreneurial resources should be provided to maintain the image of corporate social responsibility. --- ###Key conclusion： The core of team optimization should be “ability adaptation”, not age. Enterprises should achieve efficiency goals through skill upgrading, job adjustment and technological empowerment, while avoiding legal risks. Data show that age-diverse teams perform better in innovation, risk control, and organizational resilience (such as the Boston Consulting Group Research Report, 2020). True efficiency gains come from systematic improvement, not simply eliminating a certain group.