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Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads

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Re: Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads

#781
I don't use Facebook, should I feel discriminated against too?. Can't I put a job ad in a magazine about things that only young people care about? Isn't that discrimination too?.

First, I don't think that discrimination by private companies is bad, and even if you try to forbid it, there's always going to be a way around it, and it's going to be hard to draw a line and say "this is where discrimination starts".

Re: Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads

#782
post #343
post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.fastcompany.com/28121/they-write-right-stuff

This article bothers me because it implies that the path to correct code is simply to have code written by white-collar salarymen (as opposed to unkempt youth), and not improved formal methods.

It doesn't imply there is a correct path to code. It implies that the best path to the goal for this program is to minimize the opportunity for exhaustion to be a variable.

Re: Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads

#783

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Twitter "made 2.5B losses". Yeah ... that's bad ... but not from the perspectives of investors. Jack Dorsey became a billionaire from those losses. The same is true for probably all other early investors. For an investment in Twitter to have done really badly, there was a "bear" period of about 2 years. And before you say it, remember that even Google stock dropped 60%, Facebook's 70%. Twitter's drop actually looks p…

A business model is by definition "bad" if it doesn't make sustainable profits. Of course you have to allow for time, but Twitter isn't a startup.

Well I would be very happy indeed if I ever make a business for myself 10x as bad as twitter.

Wouldn't you ?

Re: Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads

#784

I'm a grad student at an elite American university. Several weeks ago, some other students and I attended a recruiting presentation put on by a large multinational company I won't name. The woman who gave the presentation services her company's contract with a tech company, that, let's just say, has a big share of the search engine market. She emphasized that she was looking for diversity, because, as she said, "the…

That recruiter you were speaking of probably meant that they were looking to hire a diverse set of people, as opposed to primarily just 65-year old white guys (which she probably believes to be the majority demographic that you'll see in a stuffy corporate environment).

She should not have said "65-year old", as that is blatant age discrimination. And she should not have brought in the terms "white guy", as it is racist stereotyping. It seems like that recruiter is really out of touch with what promoting diversity in the workplace is about.

However, despite this, you cannot deny that the majority of people working in the tech sector are white or asian and male. That's just a fact. I feel like you are demonizing diversification efforts in the work place just because of one experience you had.

That old white guy you worked with will not have a problem getting a job in the future, eventually, unless he has some sort of character flaw that renders him absolutely unemployable. Hell, he already has a job right now, though on contract basis. Even just getting your foot in the door is much harder if he was not white and male. You just proved so yourself by saying you would have a job lined up for him and people of his demographic. You are acting like old white men are the victims here. They are victims, but only because of their age. Now you know what discrimination looks and feels like. This is why diversification is important. It's simply a protection measure to help ensure equality and fairness.

Re: Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads

#785

I'm a grad student at an elite American university. Several weeks ago, some other students and I attended a recruiting presentation put on by a large multinational company I won't name. The woman who gave the presentation services her company's contract with a tech company, that, let's just say, has a big share of the search engine market. She emphasized that she was looking for diversity, because, as she said, "the…

I feel this every time I'm between jobs. I'm all of gasp 45, and know from experience that the coding job I have right now, I have to ride as long as I can because at my age I'll probably never get another job again. It doesn't matter how skilled a person is, or how much experience they have, in Silicon Valley you have a better chance of getting hired as a 20-something serial dog molester than a 50-year-old experienc…

That's really sad. Why would you even want to work in Silicon Valley if they treat people like that? There are plenty of jobs elsewhere that are less inclined to discriminate.

Re: Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads

#786

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> I'd like to start a business in 3 or 4 years, and I'm seriously considering going out of my way to target people like him. It'll be my competitive advantage. He could be 10 times more expensive than you. Did you consider that?

I'm a developer in my sixties. I guess I'm what most HN readers would call an "old white guy." I like working as a developer, and I do a decent job of it. I'm drawing the same salary as I drew twenty years ago. (Never mind adjustment for inflation. It's the same actual number of dollars.) I have a clear enough understanding of my trade that I'm willing to buy my own tools when they save me time (keyboards, monitors,…

By "somebody younger" do you mean someone in their 50s or 40s, or are they looking for a recent graduate in their 20s?

Re: Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads

#787
post #746
post #588

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is always: > What can you do for me or have done for me recently ? Services provided so far in the past that need to be reminded are at best irrelevant and it can actually hurt you to bring them up. I'm not saying that it is nice, only that humans behave individually and (even more collectively) according to this.

So at my annual review in December I should only be assessed on work in the last quarter? I guess I'd better save my best work for November.

Depending on the attention span of your particular managers (and their managers as well, most likely), this can indeed be a viable strategy.

You might also carefully consider your company's culture when deciding how to split your efforts between new (user-visible) features, preventive maintenance, and bugs affecting end users (especially any VIP end users that have your managers' ears).

For example, a 'Hero' culture rewards last-minute, late night, death march efforts, whether to fix an urgent problem, or to add that one feature that is (supposedly) needed to land a specific high-value customer/sale.

Re: Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads

#788
post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuine question: is it explicitly illegal to discriminate in your outreach for job applications? Surely similar behavior happens all the time without as much outcry, like recruiting at college career fairs.

According to the EEOC, yes it is: >"It is also illegal for an employer to recruit new employees in a way that discriminates against them because of their race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. For example, an employer's reliance on word-of-mouth recruitment by its mostly Hispanic work force may v…

What about campus recruiting?

Re: Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads

#789

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A business model is by definition "bad" if it doesn't make sustainable profits. Of course you have to allow for time, but Twitter isn't a startup.

Well I would be very happy indeed if I ever make a business for myself 10x as bad as twitter. Wouldn't you ?

As a founder - yes, if I could convince VCs to give me enough money to fund a money losing venture long enough to take public to get the market to value my company at a few billion.

As an employee who has a job because the company exists? Yes

As a retail investor - I wouldn't be quite as happy.

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