> technologists actually know how much they're worth
If they can't find a job because they want more money than the market is willing to give them then they clearly don't know how much they're worth.
The truth is that there's no shortage of competent people who'd like to be airline pilots. There's arguably not even a shortage of competent people who already possess the training and credentials. There is a shortage of people who are willing to put their expensive training to use at the near-starvation wages offered for entry-level positions with US airlines. So people either don't bother learning to fly, or if they do, they go sign with Asian or middle-eastern airlines, which have been expanding and are willing to pay good salaries for US-trained pilots.
Would you argue that pilots who demand more money than a US airline is willing to pay "don't understand how much they're worth"?
It's not (fundamentally) about money and not (fundamentally) about skillset.
It's about tossing out any resume of a 40+ year old because tech is "a young man's game".
Why is it "a young man's game"? Because that's the current perception and that's it.
People become managers, generally, because they want to be managers. Why do they want to be managers? Well some are just assholes who like to boss people around but for most it's because their definition of career success is "becoming a manager".
Those people look at people who have similar years of experience but aren't managers as "losers", and don't care about or don't understand the reasons, i.e. many people actually prefer to remain ICs.
More broadly, I would not want to be the over-40 guy trying to interview for any team where hardly anyone is even close to 30.
Such teams are quite common, especially in startups everywhere, and not just in SV, unfortunately.
I'm not affected by ageism myself (yet), but even if it was only in SV, which is the biggest tech hub in the US, then it would be a huge problem.
But ageism is rampant outside of SV as well.
After staying at one company way too long and becoming an “expert beginner” in my mid 30s, I had to basically start over and work my way back up to an architect level position. By “Architect level” I mean either officially by title or by responsibility and respect over the last 10 years. I had no problem getting development jobs. The issue I found isn’t ageism with people over 40, it is that they haven’t kept their skills current, are stuck in thier ways, and/or don’t respect thier younger team leads.
I'm not affected by ageism myself (yet), but even if it was only in SV, which is the biggest tech hub in the US, then it would be a huge problem. But ageism is rampant outside of SV as well.
Despite the common perception on HN, there are plenty of places outside of SV where a software developer can make a high enough salary to live an upper middle class lifestyle in a lower cost of living part of the country. $135K-160K goes a long way in most of the country and there are literally millions of jobs out there for software developers at profitable companies not looking to be part of the “bro culture”.
I'm now wiser. Startup culture is toxic and I prefer to stay away ...
I do not claim they ask for more, I claim they are perceived as being savvy: They are perceived as costing too much whatever the price.
But either way, if there's a shortage of technologists it's because the market isn't paying enough not that the candidate is asking to much.
That would be my assumption as well. Young kids are willing to work hard and smart while all the credits from their work go to whoever hired them. They still believe that just by being (technically) good they can thrive and become successful. Whereas their opponents, not other developers but mid-level management are not trying to be "good" they are trying to profit from others' work.
An older more experienced person realizes that much of the value of the software is because of what they put into it. They can also easily explain why that is to the senior management and therefore they are a threat to the mid-level management who are getting older themselves and don't want to fall off the shelf.
It's a game, people hiring developers are not looking for smart developers, they are looking for developers they can profit from and who they don't perceive as a threat to themselves.