This is a situation where it's not age discrimination at all - it's merely a candidate pricing themselves out of the market. Similarly, toomuchtodo suggests that as his life moves forward he'll be less willing to put the work in than his younger peers. That reduces his value.
Perhaps a significant chunk of age discrimination is merely workers being unwilling to recognize/acknowledge their actual market worth.
While my value is reduced by not working more hours than I'm paid for, I would argue that government should be stepping in when tech companies are discriminating against workers who would like labor law followed (paid for the hours you work).
Why is it okay for workers to be taken advantage of (required to work more hours than they're compensated for) but regulation of employers to protect workers (prohibit) employers from requiring unpaid time) is not?
This is not progress. It's theft.
Now if you want to lawyer up and demand X hours, $Y pay, rigid adherence to various requirements, etc, that's great for you. But if people are not willing to pay you as much due to the fact that those rigid requirements are a pain, you aren't being discriminated against due to your age.
Needless to say I'm opposed to your desire for the government to hobble your competition.
If you're a contractor, yes. If you're an employee, no, not at all.
> Needless to say I'm opposed to your desire for the government to hobble your competition.
Government exists to protect its citizens above profits.
Are you insinuating that labor laws should not be enforced? Or that employers should discriminate against employees who want to actually get paid for the time they work?
[1]http://priceonomics.com/how-employers-get-out-of-paying-thei...
the pricing out is not always voluntary, say you are mid-career, you've been working hard, you lucked out with some career choices, you've been getting very good raises due to your performance, now you are paid over the high end for your salary band, which is fine where you are working because you've built up credibility and a solid track record, and it can happen that you are over band when promotions above where you are are tied to politics or company-specific situations (I have been in companies where above a certain level there are only a specified number of position available, meaning if nobody leaves you can't get promoted there)
Your company then, sadly, might fold, and you find yourself having to find a new job, you might even have to take a job at a level lower than you were at, which you are completely ok with, because say it is in a different area where you don't have as much experience but where you always wanted to work in but just didn't happen to.
It is very likely that you will be passed over for those positions even if you would do great in them because
- when you get to the interview you already have the first strike against you because you are applying for a "lower level" position that where you were
- when you get to salary discussion you get your second strike, where you will be asked what your previous salary was, which could easily have been 1.5x or even 2x than what you would be offered for this position
- odds are that since you haven't been interviewing for a while, or since this position was in an area you were not as familiar with, or you didn't sleep well the previous night, you had a "normal" interview, where you did some things great, and some maybe not-so-great
what is the company going to do? go with you, knowing this was a significant pay cut, knowing this was a position level cut, and assuming that due to the above you are not going to be very engaged not to mention you will likely be leaving asap, or would they go for somebody younger, less experienced, where they could give them a 10% bump over their previous salary and so perceive that they would be a lot more passionate for the position?
In the end unfortunately if you do well at your job, you end up being promoted, and once you hit, say, senior architect, or distinguished engineer, or principal researcher or whatever, the amount of positions available shrinks dramatically, and there is the perception that once you've been there you wouldn't be as happy or fit for anything less
I am not sure how this could be worked around, not when there is a widespread perception that "youth" and "energy" are a lot more important than good old boring experience and been-there-done-that-ness (cue the general infantilization of the workplace)
I am hoping that the recent efforts towards making the interviewing process more data-driven (via work-at-home assignments etc.) will pan off, because that might remove some of the barriers, although it does still worry me that in the end you always get to the "cultural fit" interview where you can't be somebody you're not (i.e. younger or less experienced)
Job seekers often get this reality check at some point in their career - salaries don't rise forever - and will adjust their expectations accordingly.
I have no idea how to enact such change.
And while I am a grey beard myself (and actively advocate hiring a few more greybeards where I work, albeit for selfish reasons), I fully recognize that "youth" and "energy" will be vitally important for many jobs. Our industry may be a naturally pyramid shaped one.
