Is 40 the New 60?

#1

Post by luu » Tue, Oct 05, 2021, 11:27 AM UTC

Re: Is 40 the New 60?

#2

Post by draw_down » Tue, Oct 05, 2021, 11:56 AM UTC

> If my generation hadn't made tech such a toxic work environment by ensuring that people had little or no recourse when treated unfairly by employers, I'd be tempted to feel sorry for us.

What is this referring to?

Anyway, the usual response to this topic on here is someone in their 60s talking about how they’re still going so you should suck it up and this problem isn’t real.

Re: Is 40 the New 60?

#3

Post by giantg2 » Tue, Oct 05, 2021, 11:56 AM UTC

I'm 30s and feel old. The biggest thing is that I don't have the motivation to be fast and work extra hours. I look at the new college grads and remember those days when I didn't have a family and could put in extra hours, believing I had a career.

Re: Is 40 the New 60?

#4

Post by robertlagrant » Tue, Oct 05, 2021, 11:57 AM UTC

> If my generation hadn't made tech such a toxic work environment by ensuring that people had little or no recourse when treated unfairly by employers, I'd be tempted to feel sorry for us. Instead, all I can say is, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

This feels like a category error.

Re: Is 40 the New 60?

#5

Post by jmfldn » Tue, Oct 05, 2021, 11:57 AM UTC

I feel like this comes up a lot and it's something I think / worry about as a developer at the 'old' age of 40. I posted this comment below on a similar thread

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28294734

Essentially I think this is hopefully a temporary effect of the doubling of programmers every five years for the past twenty plus years. I expect this to level out and thus shift the ratio in favour of older developers.

Re: Is 40 the New 60?

#6

Post by PragmaticPulp » Tue, Oct 05, 2021, 11:58 AM UTC

> which made [Baltes2020] a particularly interesting read. Its subtitle is, "How popular media portrays the employability of older software developers," and the first blow is what the tech press considers old

Do we have any better sources than a small survey of tech press articles?

I always feel like ageism in tech articles are borderline clickbait: They aim to induce outrage by implying that ageism is rampant in the tech industry but the best we can do for evidence is a few anecdotes and, in this case, a survey of other tech press articles.

Ageism is a thing in the software industry. However, every company I’ve worked for that has had an ageism problem has, not coincidentally, been a terrible place to work with long hours, unreasonable demands, and bad management. Ageism is the perfect tool to select for hires who are too inexperienced to recognize that the situation is bad.

Most of the good companies I’ve worked for have had a broad distribution of ages. Again, not by coincidence, but because experienced developers settle in to roles at companies that are reasonable and treat people well.

Re: Is 40 the New 60?

#7

Post by runnr_az » Tue, Oct 05, 2021, 12:00 PM UTC

jmfldn wrote: post #5

I feel like this comes up a lot and it's something I think / worry about as a developer at the 'old' age of 40. I posted this comment below on a similar thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28294734 Essentially I think this is hopefully a temporary effect of the doubling of programmers every five years for the past twenty plus years. I expect this to level out and thus shift the ratio in favour of older develo…

Yeah… I mean. I’m in my mid-40s and I feel like I’ve got a lot of productive / happy peers. Numbers-wise, sure, there are Devs older than me, but in raw numbers, not that many.

Re: Is 40 the New 60?

#8

Post by freetinker » Tue, Oct 05, 2021, 12:01 PM UTC

Not a fan of the way the author has framed this. The title reads as if it’s condoning that such discrimination is acceptable or understandable if age 60+.

Re: Is 40 the New 60?

#9

Post by underdeserver » Tue, Oct 05, 2021, 12:01 PM UTC

What is the Python set module he's talking about?

Re: Is 40 the New 60?

#10

Post by mindvirus » Tue, Oct 05, 2021, 12:03 PM UTC

I don't doubt this, and I'm truly sympathetic to the author's experience. However it doesn't match my experiences. At this age I find I'm getting better and better job offers. Too senior has never been a problem, these offers have been at principal or senior staff levels.

I don't think I've been managing my career particularly well (15 years in and 5 jobs), and I've avoided management as best I can, but it doesn't seem to be slowing down. Looking at my peers, there are plenty of people 10+ years older than me in IC positions.

I'm curious what the difference is. Is it 40 and only one job? Industry or programming language focus? Location?