Are You Too Old For IT? - InformationWeek

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shamika,
User Rank: Ninja
11/21/2013 | 9:07:53 AM

Re: Probably a simple reason

IT is a profession where people think twice before they select it. Some feel it is a tiring job compared to others. However it's all about person's perception.

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shamika,
User Rank: Ninja
11/21/2013 | 9:07:25 AM

Re: Probably a simple reason

In my opinion age should not be a barrier for any profession as long as they have required qualification and skills set along with the correct attitude.

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Shepy,
User Rank: Apprentice
11/21/2013 | 8:59:32 AM

Re: Too old and too hard to prove discrimination

" I do not have much gray hair, look about 8-10 years younger, but that does not help when the I.T. management, and staff is in the 23-29 year old range. Management wants their team around the same age for company culture reasons in many cases, and your days are numbered in that environment. "

I suspect at least some of it will be that older people can be seen to be set in their ways as it were, often not keeping up as much with new tech as the younger people. I'm not saying this is always the case or even correct, just what the tought process may be

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DiscustedONE,
User Rank: Apprentice
11/21/2013 | 8:43:03 AM

Too old and too hard to prove discrimination

I am 56 years old, and been it I.T. about 25 years. It is very true about what I have read in other statements regarding this article.

I do not have much gray hair, look about 8-10 years younger, but that does not help when the I.T. management, and staff is in the 23-29 year old range. Management wants their team around the same age for company culture reasons in many cases, and your days are numbered in that environment. This happened to me. Management will concentrate on you so your pay does not get too high, and you will be recycled. Rather than pay out for experienced workers, business has resorted to hiring contactors to cut head count, costs, and do not have to deal with benefits.

The sad thing is that benefits through contract are non-existent, or too expensive in most cases. You are hourly paid, and that is all. The pay is good, about industry standard, until I pay for Health insurance and try to bank for sick leave and vacation time.

There is no doubt that there is job discrimination in the work place. Doing my job was not good enough; going beyond what was required was not good enough. Being contagious with enthusiasm is not good enough once they get on the culture train. You will be on the documentation microscope and railroaded out when it is time. I currently am 4 yrs on contract at a great job, no benefits, and with the economy, things are not looking good. Being to take a day off now and then would be great, holiday pay would be great.

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tcritchley07,
User Rank: Moderator
11/21/2013 | 3:34:48 AM

Ageism in IT

I think 'anon21....' has a point in currency of skills but what he is missing is the management and mentoring of those skills in others - a 'grey beard role'. Not a pay and rations management role, but a Colour Sergeant Bourne role at Rorkes Drift (film Zulu). For example, nearly every UK public sector IT initiative goes down the pan and has done for at least 12 years, culminating in the cancellation of the NHS project costing £12.5 billion + .

I am 100% convinced this is not a technical skills issue but a 'management' issue. There are skills and methodologies which defy time (Project definitions, Delphi technique, SWOTs, FMEA, Fracas etc.)(*) and these are gradually being lost in the mad dash for high tech skills and implementing everything with the latest fad - flash memory, clouds. I've seen it happen - The ATTAM project (All Things To All Men), a recipe for catastrophic failure.

(*) If you've never heard of these, you are not a 'grey beard' or 'IT Heavyweight'.

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Gary_EL,
User Rank: Ninja
11/20/2013 | 10:51:40 PM

A Corollary to Ageism

A year or two ago, when the recession was still raging, the then-new grads in IT, along with everybody else, couldn't get jobs. Now that the economy is a bit recovered, 2013 IT grads are doing OK. But those poor souls from two years ago are tainted meat in the eyes of the personnel departments that control hiring.

So, I ask, should the grads sue their universities for taking away four years and $200,000 for a degree that expires in two years, or should they sue the corporations that empower these personnel folk for age discrimination?

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KevinRCasey,
User Rank: Moderator
11/20/2013 | 7:18:58 PM

Re: Similar Dynamic

Huckabone mentioned something in a follow-up that didn't make the story but speaks to your point on efficiency. His previous employer "was using a set of tools that was very, very inefficient. So, the young guys don't see that because they don't have the experience; this old guy saw it because I've used lots of different tools and methods."

His point was simply that his younger coworkers were diligent and hard-working, but logging far more hours than necessary to accomplish tasks that could be done faster.

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Michael Endler,
User Rank: Author
11/20/2013 | 6:55:22 PM

Re: Similar Dynamic

@Thomas-- A friend of mine has had a similar experience. He's about ten years into his career as a software engineer, and every interview he's been to lately, all for senior engineer positions, he's been asked why he isn't applying for management roles.

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keitha0000,
User Rank: Strategist
11/20/2013 | 5:57:12 PM

RE: Keepin up with Tech

This is not confined to Silicon Valley-- it is an epidemic through the IT / tech sector all thoughout North America. (I can't speak for Eorope, Asia or South America.) For a 50-plus-year old, I have been able to keep working nicely, but I can't say the same when I survey what is happening around me. If you're a grey beard and aren't protected by a union (very reare in tech), you're at risk of being dumped. Further, prospective employers aren't interested in you. In my opinion, they may be interested in your experience, but not in your age demographic, and possibly not in your salary expectations.
Case in point, I see tech firms crying for people with mainframe experience, while the LinkedIn groups are full of older people with mainframe experience crying for work. It's not a fluke...

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cjohanssonv6t,
User Rank: Apprentice
11/20/2013 | 5:17:49 PM

Re: Probably a simple reason

Ha! Yep, same advice, big city services are better than rural. The best doctors always want to be in the big city. Regarding your doctor firend's advice, relative to IT, by the time they get their ticket to practise they are of an age that would be considered old in other fields. That's my observation.

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