Too Old

In a recent (early 2004) morning TV show some comments were made in regards to Employment. One of the hosts was commenting on newspaper reports Employers (please note FirstWorldCulturalAssumption) have bias against hiring older people, despite an abundance of rhetorical statements like "we value the experience and dedication of older workers".

The news commentators went on to say that in our society once a person is over 40 years old, it is extremely hard to find any job.

I have previously heard that in the "Asian Tigers", people without specific skills were shunted once they are over 30 years old. However the situation reported above is for people with skills, job experience and living in the best parts of the world.

If true, it has some implications for the IT worker whose job or career has threatened by the persistent low demand.

Is the situation the same in most parts of the developed world? Any links to support or refute the above statements? Are you able to share your information for your part of the world (North America/Western Europe/Australasia)?

IT workers over 35 are too old. see http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200407/highlights/230561.htm transcript available at limited time at http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s1123922.htm, most of the people appeared were managers, but IT was cited as the industry where over 35 can be considered TooOld.

Personally I think this is a result of TooManyPeople, age is just being used as a convenient screening mechanism as people in that age group are less likely of stirring up a storm when discriminated against.

Older IT people tend to appear skeptical of fads, and that looks bad. They hope they are "wisely" screening out dumb ideas. Only about one in ten fads ends up staying mainstream. Early adopters of the right fads reap serious rewards...

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