This article is incredibly terse and uninformative. Why are older engineers having such a hard time? Are they keeping up with new technologies to remain competitive? What kind of engineering are we even talking about?
I'm in my 40s, and I've been programming my entire career. I'm trying to get into management so as to extend my career into my 50s and 60s. The realities are that I likely won't be able to compete against kids 1/2 to 1/3 my age in the next 15 years, so I need to use my experience to my advantage.
It's too bad because I would rather just program.
He's a Manhattan-based lawyer who really doesn't like software developers, and is constantly warning his readers not to let their kids major in computer science. He cites outsourcing, stagnating wages, lack of long-term career development, and perceived low status as reasons why one should stay away from most things in tech, especially anything that could be conflated with "programming" or "IT" by people outside the tech world.
Then again, he doesn't offer any real alternative advice. It's usually some variation of "be rich and work at a non-profit".
Prior to that I ran the technical part of interview and green-lighted the candidates. The problem is real and when it happens, whatever skill set you have is irrelevant.
I wonder if there could be a boom, especially with the online options, in mid-40s programmers getting graduate degrees so as to jam the signals. That's what I'll do if I end up facing age discrimination, so long as I can solve the money problem.
Good luck with that if someone files a suit.
I feel like being a jerk to older people is just asking karma to kick you in the ass. Except for those who die young, which is a rarity at this point, everyone will get old.
Of course the age was never a formal reason. There were also other qualified applicants.
One case was borderline as the senior candidate also were asking for a higher salary. However in all cases I heard it mentioned, "isn't he, kind of, old?", and it was pretty clear there'd be no hire.
Ever notice how the flight attendants on U.S. airlines are mostly in their late 30s to 50s nowadays? The airlines learned a very expensive lesson there.