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Almost Half of Tech Workers Worry About Losing Their Jobs Because of Ageism, Says Survey (siliconbeat.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from SiliconBeat: More than 40 percent of tech workers worry about losing their jobs because of age, a new survey shows. Jobs site Indeed also found that 18 percent of those who work in the tech industry worry "all the time" about losing their jobs because of ageism. The release of the survey Thursday comes amid other news about diversity -- or lack thereof -- in tech workplaces. Often when we report about diversity issues, readers wonder about older workers. The Indeed survey offers insight into the age of the tech workforce: It's young. Indeed concluded from surveying more than 1,000 respondents in September that the tech workforce is composed of about 46 percent millennials, with 36 percent of respondents saying the average employee age at their company is 31 to 35, and 17 percent saying that the average worker age at their company is 20 to 30. What about Generation X and baby boomers? Twenty-seven percent of respondents said the average age of employees at their company is 36 to 40, while 26 percent of respondents said the workers at their companies are 40 and older.
I spent years working at a university rearch center. When I got there, they had no direction or plan regarding technology. One system at a time, I built the technology that they used for everything from directory services, storage servers, database, phone system, and even a security camera system. I used tons of open source systems - Linux, BSD, Postgres/PostGIS, Asterisk - and saved the institute hundreds of thousands of dollars. My reward? Shortly after my 50th birthday, and a few months before I finished my doctorate, they eliminated my position. As a bonus, it was also Christmas time too. Just lovely people. Two car payments, a mortgage, and a kid in college. While my wife and I were taking Christmas presents back and cancelling every possible optional expense we could, my former employer was hiring twenty-something business school types to fill seats and firing nearly everyone over 40.
Filth. And doing this on the governments nickel down!
Want to know the real reason older workers get canned? Because they're experienced, knowledgable -- and they know what they're really worth, expect to be paid that, and aren't going to knuckle under to bosses that try to bully them into accepting less. Younger workers? Not so much on all counts. They might have good book-learning, but not as much real-world experience, and they'll accept less pay because they're easily convinced -- or pressured -- to take less money and benefits. It's an inversion of the way things used to be, when a college education was nice and all, but experience ruled. The needle is starting to swing back the other way, though, but slowly, as the bean-counters and paper-shufflers (you know, the jackasses who only see numbers and have no clue about the actual work?) hold on for dear life to the mistaken idea of 'cheaper is better'. Sure, you can get some wet-behind-the-ears H1-B engineers from India, but more than half of them couldn't figure out how to design an AM crystal radio without consulting the Internet.
You're not the only one, and you're right. I was earning a liveable wage three years ago, but then I was unemployed for 12 months and now earning an entry level salary after 15 years experience - simply out of desperation.
The major parties simply don't care. It's quite happy to throw it's own citizens under the wheels to keep it's economy going, just as easily as it has thrown it's own citizens under the wheel during wars in times past. Then we have a bought and paid for media telling us that immigration is good for the economy... yes, but for WHO'S economy? Certainly not my household economy....
Can you get connected with a contract shop? Companies are often less critical about hiring contractors. Get in, make an impression, get hired. (Or get onto the next contract.)