People reject claims of ageism in tech for lack of evidence, and when the evidence comes around they no true scotsman the evidence.
Ageism is real in our space. Older people are not slow, out of touch, or overly grumpy (to counter some common cliches).
Young people please wise up because I know you feel exceptionalism, but in truth you will gain a competitive advantage by leveraging the experience of older people (even if you think the experience irrelevant). And one day you will also be old, do unto others etc.
I suspect there will be a lot more attention to ageism in about 10 years when the current of cohort of tech workers starts getting replaced by younger new college grads. Right now the population affected by ageism is just not big enough. It mostly affects Gen-X, which isn't that big and didn't have that much tech presence in the first place, most went into more traditional fields. When it starts to hit the mid-millenials, it will be too big to ignore.
There is no evidence of age discrimination mentioned in the article.
> The complaint asserts that not only is Kyndryl using IBM terminology like "Resource Action," but it is providing affected employees with the same information resources to do so, right down to the letter.
Unless I’m missing something, the argument here seems to be: IBM discriminated against older employees during layoffs, and the IBM spinoff company hasn’t changed their layoff terminology or resources, therefore they must still be discriminating against older employees.
Not a lawyer, but it sounds like they have nothing substantive to work with here.
“Ageism is real in our space. Older people are not slow, out of touch, or overly grumpy (to counter some common cliches)”
Ageism is real. Also as people age their mental faculties decline. Plenty of “old” people (read: not actually that old, sometimes in their 40s) are in fact slow and out of touch. It’s very much a thing if you actually know what gen Z life is up to (i’m not them)
“Young people please wise up”
Like this. This is very out of touch and grumpy and is going to fall flat on most people under 40
Your post is actually a great example of why old people are struggling more and more to hang these days (granted I don’t blame them, times are just changing so fast)
being in touch doesn't mean catering to the younger quarter of the population (with far less than that % of the purchasing power btw).
Aged people are plenty in touch with reality as in the true consequences of choices integrated across time. For example startup founders' success trends with age.
Wouldn't it solved by market automatically very easily. Let's say older people are paid less or discriminated in some way for the same skill. Then the company which employs them are at financial advantage on average leading to more demand till return on investment becomes same for both old and young employees.
“Solved by market” is such a bullshit concept in this context. Firstly, the idea that the “market” is this self-correcting process that works out fairly is demonstrably bullshit.
Secondly - who gives a fuck if “the market” in the abstract solves a problem when you, personally, get fucked because of ageism? People need to stop spouting off abstract market theory bullshit in response to real people being harmed as if it’s any real consolation to the actual humans involved.
2. Owning a serf rather than establishing an engagement with a professional
On #1, older, more experienced workers are not going to accept bottom-of-the-barrel compensation for the outsized impact they make relative to. Generally, this is just "free market economics" looking to maximize returns compared to costs. The easiest way to get costs down is to keep payroll down (in service-based businesses, as many tech and tech-reliant firms are, payroll is going to be your highest cost). It's low hanging fruit; and by the far the easiest way to increase the bottom-line (see: startups).
On #2, this is mostly more relevant in large, established companies. The main goal on everyone's mind is no longer to make money, but to climb the ladder. Yes, costs and profits are important, but only in times of "bad vibes." In better times, everyone is trying to justify why they're a part of the gravy train, and to get a bigger portion. Usually, this is achieved through utilizing "human resources" to work on "big projects" (that usually do not materialize anything of note -- but generate impact, i.e. intrigue ). In other cases, a newly-minted lord will not be given sufficient bodies or budget to expand his realm, so he'll need to squeeze as much as he can out of what he has in order to make do. Older workers are less tolerant of bullshit and being squeezed for no material reward to themselves.
Generally this means that older workers will not be the first-pick for startups (cost-conscious, "scrappy," i.e. #1) or well-established bigcos (reliant on transmuting human souls for the enrichment of the faux-nobility, as in #2). In either case, neither type of company is looking for great technical talent, but just a body to achieve an end. Any schmuck can fill either role -- because competence isn't necessary for the success of whoever controls the purse strings. Unfortunately, these two types of companies are the prevailing sort; thereby "ageism" can be seen in tech, the same way educational box-ticking has become en vogue: it is politically more advantageous.
Companies with sane leadership, and bodacious-yet-grounded vision, that are looking to actually offer something of substance will value competence over anything else (look at old SV startups for an example). But once again, they're an unfortunate minority, and they most likely will not be doing cold recruiting (as it is insane).
Ageism is real in our space. Older people are not slow, out of touch, or overly grumpy (to counter some common cliches).
Young people please wise up because I know you feel exceptionalism, but in truth you will gain a competitive advantage by leveraging the experience of older people (even if you think the experience irrelevant). And one day you will also be old, do unto others etc.