Comments on: Stop Discriminating Against Me, You Hateful Ageists

By: Evil HR Lady

Evil HR Lady — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:50:52 +0000

In reply to Alex S. Thank you!

By: Evil HR Lady

Evil HR Lady — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:50:27 +0000

In reply to Gerard. That is true! Even though some companies are, decidedly, slow paced, they will never admit that. And the move from director to manager really needs to happen frequently, just because there are more manager slots than director ones. The darn pyramid is out to get all of us.

By: Evil HR Lady

Evil HR Lady — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:48:48 +0000

In reply to Scott. In large companies, individual managers are not tasked with managing the health insurance premiums and they have no clue about those costs, so large companies are not discriminating on that issue. Smaller companies may well be, but I don't know enough about health care plans to comment.

By: Evil HR Lady

Evil HR Lady — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:45:42 +0000

In reply to Angela.

I did! We went out for Syrian food. Talk about delicious! Plus, I made this cake: http://www.bakeorbreak.com/2012/09/chocolate-caramel-pecan-souffle-cake/

Do not make this cake if you do not want to gain 2 pounds. And that’s just if you eat one piece. Delicious!

By: Alex S

Alex S — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 11:13:56 +0000

I heard birthdays are good for your health, the more you get them the longer you live. Happy Birthday!

By: Gerard

Gerard — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 04:41:08 +0000

First of all, happy belated birthday! I hope you’re not as traumatized as I was when I turned 40. Of course that was 14 years ago, and now that I am in my mid 50’s I am suitably jealous of you young 40 year olds!
That being said, I am newly employed after 10 months of searching. In my case, I went from being at a director level in my old job to a lower managerial position.
What I do realize is that the vast majority of my coworkers are considerably younger than me, but I have fit in quite well so far. The major reason for my fairly easy transition is that after 10 months of inactivity, I found myself energized. While I am technically a generalist, I have been heavily involved in employee relations so far and I actually have a blast dealing with all the curve balls that get thrown your way when you’re in such a position.
There is where I think the problem is. There certainly is a perception that older workers will lack the latest knowledge in their field (I think that current certifications go a long way in changing that particular perception) or that they will simply lack the energy to keep up with the always described “fast paced environment. (Honestly, in nearly 30 years of work I have never seen a company that brags of its slow paced environment!) But what my current employer seems to realize, as did a number of other perspective employers that I interviewed with, was that age equals experience which equals a very flat learning curve.
I do agree that there is discrimination out there, but I am simply not convinced that it is as rampant as discrimination laws would have us believe.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 05:03:51 +0000

In the US one large reason for age discrimination is that health insurance premiums are higher for older employees. As many employers provide insurance as a benifit, this increases the cost of older employees to the employer.

By: Angela

Angela — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 18:31:48 +0000

Happy birthday! Hope you had an awesome 40th!

By: Evil HR Lady

Evil HR Lady — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:18:47 +0000

In reply to Nanani.

They are backwards. You rarely see a 25 year old discriminating against a 40 year old. However, what you do see is a 40 year old discriminating against a 55 year old.

I wrote about this situation here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-44942870/age-discrimination-isnt-about-dates/

By: Evil HR Lady

Evil HR Lady — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:15:04 +0000

In reply to EngineerGirl.

I agree that age discrimination exists. I also agree that race and sex discrimination exists. I don’t think laws fix it.

First of all, it’s extremely easy to discriminate against anyone for any reason in the hiring process. It’s very difficult for any person to win a failure to hire lawsuit without the hiring manager saying something directly like, “We don’t hire people who are [in whatever protected class].”

The problems come with firing and disciplining, where the burden of proof is on the employer to prove that they are not discriminating instead of the other way around. The result is people are less willing to hire people in these protected classes because they are more difficult to discipline or terminate.

Easy out=easy in.

Additionally, the very set up of the workplace makes it difficult for older workers. Not because people are scared of older people but because the workforce tends to be in a pyramid. We want people who are hard working and want to climb up. But, there are fewer spaces at the top then at the bottom. If you’ve got 20 years of experience and you’re not a VP, people think there is something wrong with you. But, even if you are capable of being a VP, there are far fewer slots than there are people with experience.

Age discrimination laws do not change any of that.

Additionally, I have received numerous emails from people who state things like, “I’m being discriminated against because I’m old. I just have 5/8/10 years until retirement. I just want to do my job and go home.” Super. But managers don’t necessarily want people who want to do their jobs and go home. They want people who love their jobs and are looking for opportunities for growth and development. These people are shooting themselves in the foot by “just wanting to do their jobs.”

Now, reality is, I think there’s a lot to be gained by having a core set of employees who just want to do their jobs and go home. We need people like this. Unfortunately, it’s not what managers like. It’s not about age discrimination at all.

Remove the laws and allow people to treat their older workers the same way they treat their younger workers and you’ll find less barriers to entry then you have now.