Don’t Hire Anyone Over 30: Ageism in Silicon Valley

I'm 43.

This article hit a very strong point. I remember being told point blank at 32 (by a boomer company owner) that even though I was doing the job and had the capabilities, I simply wasn't old enough to be high level management yet. So a short time later I offered my resignation, and he responded by trying to give me a substantial share of the company with the option to buy out the rest over the next decade.....

Hilarious.

At any rate, I'm not threatened by companies that won't hire people my age. I've seen plenty of people my age that have grown fat and grey and are burnt out and lazy with the spark gone out of their eyes. But I've also seen enough to know that time keeps marching on, and the foolish and trivial is shaken out before very long. Many of these types of companies won't be around long enough for the law to take action. Those that do last will find they are soon enough full of... fat grey middle aged people protecting their jobs and going to meetings....

I happen to agree that young people are on average smarter. (As in mentally faster). But if one is exceptionally mentally fast to begin with, another person does not automatically become mentally faster by virtue of youth alone. And as for bad judgement and a misunderstanding of how the world works.... well, that's a subject for another post...

The reason age discrimination isn't included in the diversity mea culpas is because they have no plan to change. The economics of manipulating young professionals is too compelling to be changed by (mere) outrage.

Here is Sam Altman on Twitter, in April 2014, during a YC interview period: "it's a little creepy when someone has a 35 year old looking face and 70 year old looking hands" [1]

[1] https://twitter.com/sama/status/460215704302534657

>The head of the most prominent start-up incubator told The New York Times that most venture capitalists in the Valley won’t take a pitch from anyone over 32.

I have a really hard time taking this seriously

In this day and age when a person can create value from their bedroom developing applications (especially mobile), who cares about not being hired to build someone else's dream, just build your own.

I generally prefer to use the phrase "age-related employment difficulties" rather than flat out "age discrimination" when talking about silicon valley. I absolutely do not doubt that there is plenty the latter, but a bigger issue is the general culture that, as the article puts it, "might as well be scientifically designed in order to make adults with kids and a mortgage run away screaming".

I do think these sorts of articles and stories about the experience of being middle aged win silicon valley re important, because young people do need a counterpoint to the almost relentless message that there is a shortage of software developers and that what the US really needs is more young people going into CS.

What they need to hear is that in San Jose, registered nurses earn a bit more than software developers (122k/yr median vs 116k), and dental hygienists in SF earn only a bit less. Lawyers in San Jose, in spite of all the talk of a glut, earn a median of 185K a year.

No, it isn't paradise in these fields, the grass is never totally and perfectly green on the other side. But we need to understand how rational the aversion to software development careers really is when you consider the options available to highly educated, focused, intelligent young people.

Of course, plenty of people still do ok as they cross the 40, 50, 60 year threshold. However, in many fields, there is nothing remarkable about this. Lawyers and dental hygienists don't tell stories on job boards about they guy over 40 they know who managed to stay relevant. Many young people considering a career or college major are increasingly aware of what goes on, this is yet another reason why they avoid this field or abandon it quickly and early in their careers.

The article mentions that silicon valley hasn't had a net increase in jobs since 1998 and links to this article:

http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/531726/technol...

"According to Chris Benner, a regional economist at the University of California, Davis, there has been no net increase in jobs in Silicon Valley since 1998; digital technologies inevitably mean you can generate billions of dollars from a low employment base."

The linked article is not exactly the pinnacle of journalistic quality (referring to generic alleged age discriminators as "jerks", for example), but the topic is timely and relevant.

As a 50-something IT guy, of course, I'm painfully aware of age screening in the hiring process, and I've reluctantly acquiesced in recent years to others' advice to shorten my lengthy resume to include only the past 10-15 years' worth of experience.

But, I'm not about to go out and sue somebody. First of all, I'm not into suing potential employers; it tends to burn bridges, waste money, and just make things worse overall.

Secondly, go prove it. I mean, I've applied for hundreds of jobs over the years, and most of them either never answer, or interview me then decline to offer, or sometimes put me on hold and a few months later ask me to come fill a different position. Who am I to conclude that it's all about age?

There are so many factors involved that isolating age as the main reason for being passed over is difficult if not impossible. Of course, companies sometimes do settle out of court just to avoid the expense and bad press associated with defending themselves, but that just feeds the lawsuit beast and I'm really against frivolous lawsuits and the horrific effect they've had on our society.

Thirdly, why would I, at my current stage in life, want to be an employee of a company run by and full of 20-somethings who are young enough to be my sons (or, occasionally, daughters ;)? I have been there, and I find myself cringing to watch Junior say and do silly things. The father in me tells me to let him go ahead and make his mistakes because that's part of growing up. The politician in me tells me to keep my mouth shut and look for something better.

Nope, although I'm quite fortunate right now to have a work-from-home full time job designing and writing web apps and mobile apps for a living, if I found myself out of work I'd probably try to start my own consulting business or otherwise try to make it free-lancing and partnering with other app writers and designers rather than go and try to be a code monkey at a 20-something start-up. Or try to start my own start-up, for that matter.

The 20-somethings (except for a few cool, mature-beyond-their-years ones) don't relate to me, because they're young and inexperienced. I can relate to them, however, but I have already been through that awkward phase of life and have little interest in reliving it!

Frankly I'm surprised that so many 40-somethings and 50-somethings really want to work in such an environment. A friend of mine in SV complains about his manager who is half his age, who said "convert this script from Python to Java; it shouldn't take you more than half an hour" and in fact it took my friend two weeks. Come on, if it takes half an hour then do it yourself, hotshot. On the other hand I have a manager who is 20+ years my junior, and he's very cool, mature beyond his years, very focused on business.