Ageism is not really the problem. The problem is looking for that someone that will fit into the elusive culture fit. And I see this culturism as worse than any kind of discrimination practiced in the past and now (racism, sexism, etc).
What is culture in a work place as we know it these days in the realms of startup shops?
It's stuff like:
- can you be a good drinking buddy?
- do you look young and hip?
- can you carry on a small talk and talk about stuff like favorite rock band, movies at company events? Never mind that to be a rockstar coder at your young age, you never watched a movie or went to a concert BUT instead spent all your time coding and learning how to code faster/better.
- do you have any interesting hobby like rock climbing or traveling that makes you an interesting person? Never mind that having an interesting hobby will actually damage your chance of becoming a good coder, cause it will take so much time away from coding. With so many things to learn and keep up with, how do you have the time to have an interesting hobby?
- oh also, can you give a good talk on a tech topic? like a good tech sales person? But why would you want to be a coder that will surely hit an arbitrary salary cap while working full 50+ hr a week, when a salesman will make more than coders due to sales commission (while working practically a part time job)? And don't forget about all the extras salespeople get like traveling.
- are you an extremely pleasant person to deal with? Buy why? Are you hiring a sales clerk or a coder? Can a coder be just a normal human being, not one with a forced smiles on face?
- are you all of the above so that ones you refer to the company as potential hire will be clones of yourself?
- oh and can you code?
All this in workplaces that are automating human interaction out of daily work and personal life.
And now increasingly shops that encourage/tout remote working where coworkers don't see each other in person.