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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIn Silicon Valley, age can be a curse
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
... But if demand is outstripping supply, how come so many skilled IT professionals in the Bay Area are out of work? In a nutshell, job experience in the tech industry matters far less than it once did. In fact, it can work against you.
"It's been quite a shock, coming out of my last job, which I had for 11 years," said Robert Honma, 49, of Sunnyvale, his resume filled with senior tech positions in multinational companies and small startups. He's been out of work for 10 months. "The Facebooks, the Googles are driven by the young."
Mark Zuckerberg agrees. "I want to stress the importance of being young and technical," Facebook's CEO (now 28) told a Y Combinator Startup event at Stanford University in 2007. "Young people are just smarter. Why are most chess masters under 30? I don't know. Young people just have simpler lives. We may not own a car. We may not have family. Simplicity in life allows you to focus on what's important."
... "There's definitely age discrimination, but it's awfully hard to prove," said Cliff Palefsky, an employment law attorney in San Francisco, who gets regular calls from older tech workers shut out of the new world. "In your 40s or 50, you're in your prime, but not in Silicon Valley, where everything has been moved up 10 years. It makes for a particular awkwardness between an older applicant and a younger interviewer."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bottomline/article/In-Silicon-Valley-age-can-be-a-curse-4742365.php
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)but it's the case everywhere and in all walks of life. Younger people starting out will work for less.
I don't care what sort of ageist pap Fuckerberg spews.
Julie
pnwmom
(108,973 posts)For example, law and medicine.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)Safetykitten
(5,162 posts)TheMastersNemesis
(10,602 posts)Age is a curse in every way now. Employers don't want you by the time you are 40 and have family obligations and pre existing health conditions. Companies don't want anyone to accumulate any benefits on the job. They cost money.
Politicians don't want older people around because they might eventually get Social Security or Medicare.
The young of today have never known any kind of job security or social contract. They have been convinced that we do not need one. Young white males are particularly brainwashed. They believe they are like a star quarterback who will always be demand.
malthaussen
(17,184 posts)kentauros
(29,414 posts)Let's put him up against Elon Musk and see how he fairs in that regard.
Safetykitten
(5,162 posts)kentauros
(29,414 posts)because he's over 30, as is the subject of the OP. Also, Musk appears to know more, due to experience, and has done more with his wealth, and education. Zuckerberg created Facebook. Big deal. I continue to find message boards superior at communication with large groups, socializing, and networking.
on point
(2,506 posts)winter is coming
(11,785 posts)Translation: we want to hire people who'll work 80+ hours a week for "salary" without complaining.
ladjf
(17,320 posts)statement. My guess is that when and if Mr. Zuckerberg ever reaches old age, he will probably
want to modify his ageist remark.
Butterbean
(1,014 posts)that comment come back and bite Zuckerberg in the ass in a couple of decades. Mmm, schadenfreude....delicious.
ladjf
(17,320 posts)Butterbean
(1,014 posts)they make the distinction between "older applicants" and "younger interviewers." Interesting choice of language there.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)haele
(12,646 posts)Or pretending you're going to be "forever young", 'cause we all know that life is like the movie "Logan's Run", where only the rich and pretty can afford to exist beyond the age of 30.
Or perhaps you're both.
BTW, pop culture has always hyped the "child genius" model of hero. That's because the target demographic for people wanting to sell mass amounts of crapola is mainly comprised of the young and full-of-themselves who are willing to buy because they're being flattered.
I find that young engineers are more likely to make mistakes by taking random shortcuts because they think they "know the rules", but don't really understand why the rules were in place. Physics is still the Law, and by Dog, it's still going to be followed until Technology advances enough to tweek it a bit.
True, to compensate for mistakes through inexperience, they are more able (or willing) to work 72-hour straight weeks every other month or so to fix those mistakes in judgment. Older engineers are not going to make those sorts of mistake.
Still, Mr. Zuckerberg - don't mistake being attractive, lucky or energetic for being "smarter".
Haele
snooper2
(30,151 posts)There are only so many positions in management-
So if you are senior something or middle management after moving up over 20 years, you better stay sharp and current. Spending 75%+ of your time managing people and projects instead of reading up on say ( http://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6849/ ) a new RFC that came out expect to be culled from the herd.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)to question authority, combined with laws specifically written to protect employer's criminal acts, 40 is the end of the line in tech.
OTOH, In my line I see a renaissance of creativity and entrepreneurship among those in this demographic that is being stifled by what is plainly collusion to choke off capital.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)While ageism happens everywhere, I've worked in and around the Silicon Valley tech scene since the 1990's, and they have their own particular brand of ageism. There's an odd presumption that successful programmers should be wealthy by the time you're 40, and that if you're not, it's because you're "obviously" not very good at what you do. Why would anyone want to hire an employee who has clearly demonstrated substandard skills?
Part of the mentality is a form of self-protection for the people who work in these companies. Most younger Silicon Valley workers are still under the illusion that THEY will work hard and become rich someday as well, and that their billion dollar startup idea is right around the corner. While most won't ever come anywhere close to that kind of success, acknowledging the fact that there are highly skilled senior programmers who AREN'T rich means acknowledging the fact that they might never get rich themselves. It's a form of denial.
If you don't have a million in the bank by 30, you're mismanaging your career. If you don't have several successful startups under your belt by 40, along with a few million in the bank, you're clearly a failure at your job and are probably beyond redemption. Or so the thinking goes anyway.
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)illsuions companies want to create for their younger employees that their dedication will pay off big time.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)I spent my 20's sleeping in cots in cubicles in the 1990's, while under the influence of this idea that I'd be worth at least a few hundred million by the time I was 40. Everything I was told, by everyone who told me, convinced me that it was a given. Most young developers in the Silicon Valley today still have that impression. I can tell you that, when I was teaching up until last year, around 90+% of my students really believed that they'd be retiring before 30. I tried to set them straight more times than I could count, but nobody really paid my opinion much attention.
I've actually had a very successful career overall, but the reality that I'd never be a billionaire or have my own private island took a while to sink in. The fact that there were no old programmers around certainly reinforced that idea.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Not right, but not terribly surprising, either.