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Comment by diab0lic | Hacker News Reader

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I always wonder about ageism in tech referenced regularly here. Without a doubt the rockstars I know are more experienced and consequently older. If you exclude older software engineers you're probably excluding the best talent and thus can't claim to hire only the top x% of talent.

Note: I don't belong to this group in age or talent.

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I work out in Asia and over here a big reason for ageism in tech is a misunderstanding of development talent, there is a belief that coders are coders and that's all there is to it, young coders tend to be willing to work longer hours and basically work until they burn out so management sees them as the superior option since salaries and benefits are lower.

edit: Since I'm getting down voted for whatever reason here's an article that is along similar lines https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-05-02/china-s-t...

How does that work exactly? If no one is willing to pay higher salaries then the salaries aren’t higher. Senior people would presumably take junior pay over unemployment.

Junior developer salaries here are low enough that people just change industry. It's also not just about the salary but the way that they work. That all being said there are start ups out here that do look for experienced devs and pay accordingly, my previous comments mostly relate to large local businesses.

https://kotaku.com/game-programmer-quits-job-to-sell-street-...

Some companies tend to hire only junior devs for junior positions. The argument is that, once hired, senior people complain about being paid lower than a less experienced dev. Some management does not want to deal with that. I know it sounds stupid, but that is what I've heard from some of my seniors.

Where in Asia? I imagine the culture is pretty different depending on the country.

This is something that doesn't seem real in your 20s, but a realization in your early 30s.

Edit: There is an important balance to keep the enthusiasm of your 20s for a long time, and keeping a little wisdom of recognizing those situations that want to take advantage of a few years of your life in your 30s and being a little more conscious about it.

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