I think years of experience is important as a range and a guideline for level of maturity. Not hard and fast, I’ve seen them used to block advancement and defend advancement. I think it should be more of an indicator of attitude. Does so and so behave like he or she has 10 years experience.
I’ve worked with people who had 10+ year experience who behaved like total n00bs so not to be taken literally, which can be difficult to translate for some HR groups.