When you in the 50's with a fading memory and declining eye sight, 3 kids and a big mortgage. And you have to study till midnight to develop new IT skills, coding, keep updating your resume and looking for new job every few months. What kind of life is that?
Doctors don't have to do that, teachers and engineers don't have to do that. Only the IT guys do.
You are more likely to get laid off when you can least afford to get laid off. Older people are often the first ones to let go. That's how cruel those companies are.