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Comment by oxryly1 | Hacker News Reader

Is this perhaps because older workers gravitate towards sane hours? Maybe because they develop interests, lives, families, etc outside of work that they commit to (moreso than most 20-somethings)?

As a side note: I'm over 40 now, but I do recall being 27 and interviewing someone in their early 40s who was qualified and enthusiastic. I passed on them in part because I felt guilty hiring them; to work on my team the person would have to move their family to a new city, and I didn't want the karma of bringing that many people into a world where the team/project I was on was staffed and led by 20-somethings -- and therefore chaotic and unlikely to survive long in any particular form.

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I've actually found the opposite. The guys in 30's and early 40's have young children which makes it hard to stay away from home. I've worked with people in their 50's who are now empty nesters and happy to work late and/or be on call overnight.

Exactly. Older folks whose kids are self-sufficient are able to focus their time and energy into their work - even more so than twenty-somethings who are still wrapped-up in life's dramas associated with being young. And they have a lot of experience to boot.

and, let's face it, many of them like having the excuse of long hours to stay away from a family they have grown tired of. My brother told me once he had kids he finally understood the joy of mowing the lawn; you get time away from the kids and wife and its so loud they never think to come bother you and it's work so they don't have the excuse that you are just goofing off

That reminds me of a joke:

Three men are talking: A programmer, a doctor, and a lawyer. The lawyer says, "Man, the only way is to have a mistress. With all these divorce suits, it's terrible. The only way is to have a mistress." The doctor says, "Are you kidding? With all the STDs out there, you want a wife and that's it." The programmer says, "You need both a wife and a mistress. Because when you're not with the mistress, she'll assume you're with your wife, and when you're not with your wife, she'll assume you're with your mistress, and THAT leaves you more time to be in the lab programming!"

(Found on http://stackoverflow.com/questions/234075)

What you did was definitely illegal and immoral. It is not your decision to make on how someone should live their life.

Probably, but I was in over my head and the team evaporated within months. With hindsight I would have done many things differently, and my approach to interviewing that person is just one of many.

I think it was brave to say, and a valuable addition to the discussion.

What was illegal about it?

It was possibly immoral, if you think there's a moral requirement to hire the first person that fits the role. Though, employment is a relationship, and like any relationship there can be a host of reasons why they don't start or work out. It can simply be a matter of preference, on both sides.

It's not illegal to discriminate, it's illegal to discriminate for particular classes.

Not at all. He was being considerate.

Older workers are also more savvy. They understand things like the fact that if you're working 80 hours a week for $120k you are actually making $60k.

You're actually making 180k equivalent because you don't have time to spend the money.

Ha! Workers over 35 tend to have dependents who spend the money regardless and in fact may spend more the less time you spend with them.

Delete this before Bezos sees it.

That is perhaps the hourly wage if you do the math, but it isn't that black and white.

The higher pay let's you save more for retirement, let's you afford a better school for your kids, a home in a nicer neighborhood, etc. There are trade offs.

I get your point but that's not the best way to make it.

Really? I think it is a perfect way to tell anyone with 80hr week to rethink the situation.

Different strokes I suppose. I don't usually react well to presumptive nonsense but I'm not always representative.

Understandable, but this is the bias does end up causing unintended age discrimination.

Yup. That's why I tell the story. Now when I seek a job I face myself discriminating against me. It sucks, but at least I understand a little of why it happens, I guess.

I think most younger crowd associates wanting to spend time with family == not motivated to work. See this comment[1] for example( I've been guilty of this myself ).

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12418289

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