This idea is alive and well in Canada (a more conservative culture generally); their tech scene hasn't exactly exploded as a result.
This is a pet peeve of mine, and exactly the same ageism the author is complaining about. All of these things mean that you're not getting the best people for the job, both ways.
I bet after that MS share holders though damn we should have hired Mulally.
Some on at his level should not make that sort of mistake evver.
For reference - Netflix said it best in that masterpiece of an HR document - a pay rise should never come up as a topic, because you should already be paying your people close to the top of what the market thinks they are worth .
I'm not complaining about genuine experience/wisdom/etc. I just think the correlation with age is a lot weaker than prevailing wisdom in the great white north, where age is almost seen as a requirement.
And then the environment and expense of Vancouver makes most gtfo to Toronto or SF (like they wanted to in the first place).
Even now I'd rather go to Vancouver than SF or Toronto. I went to Seattle instead of Vancouver because my job offer was for Seattle.
That is far down the list of reasons why Canada's tech scene is weak.
More conservative generally?
The result is that assistance offered to start-ups (via accelerators, etc.) is way too often in the form of finding "experienced" entrepreneurs to "guide" the start-ups, instead of actually enabling the young founders. The experience of a former low-level exec from Nortel, RIM, IBM or Microsoft Canada is generally not relevant to a start-up.
You may disagree, but I feel I spent enough years grinding it out in Canada to justify an opinion.