That is so ad, but this kind of thing happens in almost organisations. Truth is, nowadays, seniority and experience hardly counts for much. The younger people might be good workers and may have talent and knowledge of latest technology required than the senior person may have. But the fact still remains that the senior person has put in more years of his life to the job and has the benefit of better experience and judgement that will come handy while leading others, so ignoring such a person and promoting others is simply not fair.

In my opinion.Merit should be taken into consideration for Promotions. Every Organization will have aims and objectives. A Candidate endowed with that knowledge which help serve the interests of the Organization and in its turn help in making Profits. There is justification if the candidate over takes Senior members with knowledge, but will not serve the Aims, Objectives and interests of the Organization.

It happened in my case when I was working as a Visualizer in the PR Dept of Vizag Steel plant. During all my  promotions, the Personnel Dept. has taken Merit in to consideration.

Due to severe competition today firms are under stress for market share and profits. Who ever can deliver is selected . Young persons have energy which today's firm's aŕe eager to exploit. Merit is important but not always. Seniority is used as a balancing tool in large organizations. Also in fast changing world many seniors find themselves incapable of learning new practices and also are unable to take competitive stress.So many a Times seniors get bypassed. 

Seniors Services are to be taken definitely. Some organizations especially Advertising Agencies are absorbing Seniors as Advisers.But their decisions are not final and binding. But for the main services, Youngsters are preferred for their ability to adopt to the quick changing trends.

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

That is so ad, but this kind of thing happens in almost organisations. Truth is, nowadays, seniority and experience hardly counts for much. The younger people might be good workers and may have talent and knowledge of latest technology required than the senior person may have. But the fact still remains that the senior person has put in more years of his life to the job and has the benefit of better experience and judgement that will come handy while leading others, so ignoring such a person and promoting others is simply not fair.

Exactly ! Another fact is that these days percentage wise many of the youngsters are foot loose , changing jobs and looking for better opportunities all the time rather than stick to one job and become thorough! In such a scenario, how wise is it for companies to overlook senior workers who have stuck on and contributed all through their career . Unless a balance is stuck it may become counter productive for an organisation to take on a younger worker and give him more responsibilities.Everything should happen step by step. 

Seniority is a significant fact and cannot be ignored totally. Merit is an opinion whereas seniority is a fact. Seniority needs be major criterion in promotions. But seniority alone does not suffice. The service record of the senior also needs be seen. If he has performed satisfactory service, he must be promoted. Juniors can wait for their turn.  Only when a senior has shown dismal performance or lack of interest in work, he may be bypassed. For very senior posts needing exceptional merit, seniority cum merit should be criterion.  First, candidates should be shortlisted on basis of seniority. Then their performance during career be reviewed and suitable one may be selected. 

In these days of Globalization and swift changes, any Business organization, looks towards new trends in Business practices in order to make profits. No Business organization can thrive with obsolete and outdated practices. I observed Senor employees generally are not oriented towards new business practices. They feel jumping to new trends may be risky. Whereas youngsters in the organization, being inquisitive show orientation towards trying new trends. Many Business organizations shot up owing to the enterprising and groundbreaking innovations introduced by the youngsters in their respective fields. Youngsters with innovative ideas must be considered for promotions. 

It is a fact that senior members have grown with the organization and are well aware of its needs for sustainanc and growth. A youngster might come up with new ideas which may or may not work since it has not been tested. An ideal situation would be for the youngsters to take advise while implementing their ideas , from seniors who know the ins and outs of the organization much better.It also helps seniors to learn new ideas.

A good solution. But there are many Organizations that view Senior employees as White elephants.Unproductive Man power reduction would be more profitable to these Organizations. In this process,  seemingly productive innovative ideas of the Youngsters who generally are recruited with low salaries. are preferred. by these Organizations.