How is this not age discrimination? Or do people make the case that age discrimination makes business sense?
Of course it doesn't make business sense, and it's arguably immoral, but biases exist and the only defense against them is to be aware of them.
I don't see a lot of "well, we have can offer you $X and let you prove yourself or see if something bigger opens up".
I do believe career growth stalls out at a certain point, though. But I chalk that up to organizational culture, not something inherent to tech work itself. There aren't clearly defined career paths where one would start out making bigger and bigger technical decisions as they gained more experience. You do see that career trajectory in management tracks, as one would manage more people and bigger budgets.
>you're not more qualified than someone less experienced who has that skill.
I'd gently disagree with this. An extra decade or more of working and navigating the relationships of a workplace, and honing a sense of professional judgment and problem solving is worth something. An employee does far more than implement a specific skill. You need some of that extra stuff too.
In your opinion. Why prejudge what you think they might require?