CF: Do you think that stigma associated with age is strongest in the tech industry?
DL: Yes. Mark Zuckerberg said that young people are smarter. Now, he said that a long time ago, he probably would be more diplomatic and discreet about it now, but I bet he still believes it. I think in tech there is a plentiful supply of people in their twenties and they are all looking for work. It may be that we are in this period where technology is erasing jobs faster than we are creating them, so we have a net loss of jobs. So that means that you have a surplus of workers. If that’s the case, why wouldn’t you just hire people in their twenties who are cheaper and younger and don’t have distractions?
I’m not even sure what to add here, but this is absolutely the truth. All things being equal, why wouldn’t you hire younger workers who don’t expect as much money, have fewer outside responsibilities, and will probably leave before you need to pay them much more, allowing you go back to the start of this process again?
Because things are not always equal. Sometimes, when you follow that practice, it’s bad for your business. (Sometimes it’s also you know, illegal.) I’m not sure many of the people who run tech company’s have figured that out yet. They don’t have a long term vision beyond the IPO or acquisition. 😉
Do you admit to being “old” when working in a tech company? Would you?
The post is written by a developer, and he’s got good advice for anyone looking for that kind of work. I’m not a developer, but I can say with some confidence that this advice applies to everyone. In this job market, who you know is everything.
Scratch that. It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you and your work. The more people who see your work, the more likely you are to land a job. It’s not always that simple, but it sure increases the odds. Maybe for the rest of us, it’s not about having a GitHub repository for our projects, but about writing a blog, being involved in user groups, or volunteering with your industry’s educational resource.
They may not work often, but they don’t have to work often if we can target “everyone”. As long as they work occasionally, and based on my anecdotal evidence from people I talk to in the industry, they do work often enough. “”One of the notable aspects of gift card BEC attacks is that they…
There’s a lot in this to be mindful of when you’re participating in a meeting, or now days if you’re doing a video webinar or broadcast as well, but this one for me is lesson number 1: “Even if you don’t need to be fully engaged in the meeting, your professional reputation can suffer if…
Just a few links to things that relate to why workplaces should care, and what they should do about mental health issues: The Business Community Should Care About Child Abuse Too What if I told you, that all those businesses that are struggling to find good workers in the current labor market, or who are…
“Whether we like it or not every lawsuit now has ESI and IT is responsible for helping protecting ESI.” This is one of those things that I don’t think the legal industry truly understands. IT’s job is first and foremost about keeping all the technology running and proiding useful solutions to business needs. Keeping track…
It’s true. Our words and actions, especially when things are stressful, undermine what we think we are. You may think you’re being a good boss, and maybe most of the time you are, but those days when you’re stressed and short with people or the days you decide to not deal with a problem, become the days that define you in the eyes of the people who report to you.
To them, you aren’t just another person having a bad day. You are the person who controls their success at this company for better or worse, so it’s not just you having a bad day, it’s the organization having a bad day, directed at them.
