Comment on Fewer People 55-And-Over Choose To Work. But Why?
Rooster326@programming.dev 4 days agoIt’s weird because I’m a much better worker and person than I was in my 20s.
Yes but you are also much more expensive than you were in your 20s. Even if you took the lower wages, the cost for insurance for the company is higher.
There’s also the stigma/stereotype(?) of older individuals being stubborn and refusing to learn. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” .
schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works 4 days ago
That’s true. Making insurance go through employers does obviously contribute to age discrimination.
And, as far as stereotypes go, yes, that is almost universally the cause of discrimination.
But, in this case, as other people have pointed out, a big part of it could just be social exclusion–that is younger people want to work with younger people. I think some countries and cultures do this better than others, but in the United States there is a very strong generational segregation.
Rooster326@programming.dev 4 days ago
There is a strong segregation. I’d argue it isn’t just generational though.
Look at literally the hiring habits of every Indian manager, or eastern European?
Literally all it took was 1 Indian to be promoted to director and we have not had a single promotion, or out of cycle raise for anyone that was not a man with strong Indian roots. Not once in almost a decade. If you want up, you must move sideways.
They hired a VIP that was from Belarus, and within 6 months. My buddy found he was the only American still in his entire department.
schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works 4 days ago
Yup, that is more explicit discrimination. And before you retire, consider suing that place. Right wing outlets will eat it up.
There is a separate softer and amorphous “team culture” bias that is particularly difficult if you’re substantially older (or younger) than everyone else.
I once was on a job interview and was asked, “It’s important that everyone gets along, so what are your hobbies?” Obviously, if people get along and what their hobbies SHOULD ideally be two different questions, but if everyone is talking about Pokemon and you’re just wondering who is going to win the International Chopin Competition, you’re probably not going to gel.