By silicon.com, 24 October 2005 15:55
Recently a top exec at a big IT services company explained to silicon.com how to deliver a successful IT project. His advice: use more old people.
Most mistakes are made by younger staff, he said, whereas the old grey hairs have seen it all before and tend to avoid the obvious pitfalls.
It's a shame that this view is very much in the minority. An industry obsessed with innovation might benefit from tapping into experience, rather than ditching workers as soon as they get a few wrinkles.
The IT industry might be fascinated by the latest gizmo and the greatest new start-up - but that doesn't mean that everybody working in the industry has to be young enough to audition for a boy band. It's not Pop Idol, after all.
So where does this obsession with youth come from? Is the industry so short-sighted that it will ignore workers with experience because they might cost a bit more? Are managers so weak-kneed that they fear hiring older staff will undermine them? Do they really think staff over the age of 40 won't be able to cope?
Unrealistic dreams about early retirement are making the situation even worse. A new study shows three-quarters of IT workers are hanging on to the expectation that they will retire by the age of 65 - even though they believe that the age of retirement for the average person in 10 years' time will be 66 or older.
For most the dream of logging off and sailing the world, safe in the knowledge that their final salary pension will foot the bill is just that - a dream. Most people are living longer and will be fit enough to work well beyond 65. And will probably need the money, too.
Perhaps if managers were more honest about their own retirement prospects they would be fairer in the way they treat older workers.
If managers expect to retire at 45 then they may well look down on those poor old dodderers that are still slogging away at 50.
But if they accept that they are going to be working until 65 or even later themselves then perhaps they will reassess their attitudes - because they could end up as victims of age discrimination as well. Some unkind souls might say that is a fitting fate.
Comments
There are 15 comments. Join the discussion
1. Stuart Vine
Looking at the increased death rate of people who retire early may be some consolation to those of us will be shuffling towards the keyboard in our zimmer frames and carpet slippers.
"Researchers have disproved the theory that people who take early retirement enjoy longer lives as a result.
In fact, those who stop working at 55 have nearly double the death rate of those who continue to work on until they reach 65, a study suggests."
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4358244.stm
2. Sarah
Wow! Did I write this? It is the same as if I had!
Just a shame that most employers and, more importantly, recruitment consultants, don't seem to take note of this.
Could someone please email this to all them?
3. John Forrester
Very much the same situation here in Italy. Actually it's even worse in a way because you are considered oldish by 35 and defintely by 40-45 you can find it tough to switch jobs.
You don't mention there is also a tendency to want to pay less for as much as possible. I see newspaper adds for people under 26 expecting several years of experience in various areas.
4. Mick James
"Looking at the increased death rate of people who retire early may be some consolation"
Some very flawed research here, even if you take out all the people who retired early on grounds of ill-health you're still conting a lot of people who would have died anyway. What you need to compare are the death rates of those who retire early with people the same age who stay in work (after adjusting for ill-health.
Far better to retire as early as possible and make sure you get some retirement time.
5. anonymous
How refreshing for this to be aired. Having worked in IT for 40 years and still enjoying it with all its frustrations at the age of 64, I could not agree more. Old age is a state of mind and I don't want to stop working at my next birthday.
6. Andrew Harcourt
I was at an interview. The interviewer said " I see you are 31. Don't you think that is a bit old for this job?"
I replied: " If you think I am too old for this job, that is your problem, not mine" and walked out.
7. Steve Berry
That comment about the interviewer by Andrew just shows the level of "unintelligence" that exists in this Industry. Born out of pure ignorance - trying to be clever and failing miserably. I would have walked too.
If ageism was a genuinely valid trait for obsoleting personnel then:
1- Fire Bill Gates.
2- Fire Larry Ellison.
3- Fire Steve Jobs etc.. etc..
The only reason ageism exists is as a "filter/screener" for those to use when it's convenient for them to do so.
What goes around comes around - get involved in that game and you'd better be prepared when it rears it's ugly head and bites you on the backside.
For your sake I hope it's not at a time when you're desperately trying to feed your wife and kids.
8. David Quinn
I retired at 51. I would rather not have but I could see that I was already appearing old hat. One of the problems is that in every generation the young turks choose a new wave to surf to power by undermining the credibility of the experienced. In the early 90s it was Unix. At the time it was not usable on large systems but that did not stop the young turks claiming it was and branding their older more experienced colleagues as too cautious. For some reason managements addicted to change and innovation believe the neophytes. In reality 90% of what we do this year is the same as we did last year but the emphasis is all on the 10%.
The other issue is that working in IT is exhausting. I used to work 12 hours a day weekdays, much of Sunday and usually one evening a week. When I got to 50 I just burned out. If anything life in IT is worse now.
I cannot see either of these trends weakening as things stand. I fear that people who work beyond 65 (let alone the current norm of maybe 55) must resign themselves to slipping down the organisation in their final years and to a reduced pension because of it.
Of course IT is not the only discipline where this happens, though it is probably more pronounced in IT. The Government of course remains entirely insouciant of any of these issues.
9. anonymous
As one who was made redundant at 57 due to no fault of my own. It was as a result of a merger. Jobseeking became the usual nightmare, with one interviewer saying, "You haven't put your age on your CV". Followed by, "Do us all a favour, go away and die". Which does of course also sum up the true sentiments of many in government, at the present time, with their protected final salary & MP pensions. I have heard 'talking heads' on the media, talking about over 65's & over 60's being, "non cost effective", & "a waste of space", etc.
So where does one go from there????
Compulsory euthanasia/extermination at 65, or earlier????
10. anonymous
I think that it is very simple: The managers are young and they do not hire people that are older than themself - or within about two years of their age. I have seen this for the past 18 years.
Also, the staf who handle recruitment (often agencies) are all young. At a recent age discrimination case in OZ, the judge (granting for the 40-somethings) said that the recruitment staff were young and only identified with people of their own age. not with canidates whp might be the parent's age (or generation).
Unless we get older managers and recruiters - noting much will change.
11. anonymous
I don't believe that it's the IT managers who won't hire older workers, I believe that many such applicants are filtered out by the recruitment firms - staffed by young, inexperienced, non-IT qualified hacks!
12. Malcolm Wilson
I've been there too, Andrew. While visiting a 'bums on seats' merchant masquerading as an Employment Agency, I was asked how someone of my age (55) knows so much about IT in the Creative Industry. Before my departure I replied, "Because I'm the same generation as Gates & Jobs, you clueless prat."
It seems that you are dead in the water at 25 these days. Whatever. I plan to work until my forehead hits the keyboard...
13. Stuart Vine
It's very noticable that a lot of consultants in e-learning and training are in their 40s and older. Among the advantages of being in the older age bracket is that senior business managers tend to take you seriously - you're often in the same age bracket. I doubt if I'd ever go back to working for someone else, even if heading towards 50 I could get past the HR and recruitment children!
14. David Newman
You are never to old for IT.
I am 72 years old and still working at the leading edge of IT.
Regards
David Newman
15. Tony Nicholson
Well Steve Berry, If you are the one I know your entire workforce if you added all their ages together they wouldn't qualify for a pension.