Yes Vladimir it seems that to “Age-neutralize” is perfectly acceptable to the author Howard Williams and most of the tech industry. At the same time most tech companies HR departments will always have some rhetoric on how they embrace a diverse workforce. I agree why doesn’t Howard suggest that people Race-Neutralize, Gender-Neutralize, Sexual Orientation-Neutralize their cv’s?? Answer = Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit but hey, to Age-Neutralize is perfectly acceptable and non-discriminatory.

I live in the EU, and have top programming skills because I love this job, but despite of this I cannot manage to find prog job for the last two years. I don’t count number of applications anymore, when they realize my age they do amazing things to turn me off making false excuses. One of my favorite is ‘can you learn … in a month, because we will need it’, picking a technology not mentioned in my CV that takes months to learn. After I say yes aI can they don’t call me anyway. To my wonder I realized that hi tech industry is full of lying, bad, dishonest and overall low characters. Situation in te US is much more real, I would say more honest.

In the EU they lay, give false promises, make creative excuses etc because they know very well that they are doing wrong (and they want to avoid me suing them for age discrimination). Funny thing is that I can much easier find a job as taxi driver, doorman and similar no-education position than a highly skilled pro position that requires a lot of knowledge. I don’t understand why in the hi-tech society knowledge society knowledge is actually not so unimportant, but that’s reality. World is not fair

Those happen to be the people that hire, too.

The problem with older techies is they don’t fit into that model and most experienced people offer positive improvements to a business organization. When you pierce their bubble managers don’t see it as constructive but very threatening. So it spells the demise of the older programmer. Even if like me you shut up and follow the plan often good or superior work is a threat. The goal often in IT today isn’t to do quality work or innovate its to follow leaderships plan. When it fails they like you to fail with it and experienced people offering solutions goes against the departments corporate culture and internal goals (which must be followed to keep jobs).

What this article helps to do is add more reality to the situation that talented people have….those that have helped other companies succeed bigtime through our experiences using cutting edge tech despite bad management.

To me the solution is obvious. We cannot change the loyalty and grooming that managers only expect to find in fresh new young faces or offshore sweat shops. We can’t change any of that. Those managers will have to follow their own failed paths being closed to experience that might have guided them. That’s the trend in 2020z

What older or experienced techies have to do is play a different game. Besides maintaining cutting edge tech skills and superior results and our talent
base, we have to consider options like remote work which make us more anonymous, consulting by selling our expertise vs contracting which is just coding, and disguising our age completely through many different strategies so we are proven by our quality work alone.

In terms of coping with the increasingly poor short term management people I run across, you cannot effect change there. That’s why it’s best to avoid the diversity solution and work exclusively as an outside contractor there to only code by project then move on. We have to completely forget the long term corporate culture integration idea and just not plan on working for these companies and remain hired guns, cleanup crews when offshore solutions fail, and focus on specific expertise in a valuable technology that young people struggle to perfect.

I think we cannot swim upstream. But we can float beside the current in our own boats and add huge value to the mess that is modern, mismanaged, wasteful technology, at the moment.

Experience/seasoned AND innovative is an amazing combination. My partner, who is over 50 is that. Stays on top of the trends, even more so than some younger counter parts. This 50+ hard working, passionate, driven, person has innovative new ideas all the time and has the solid seasoned experience that can actually drive product to a finish line with reality and solid solutions in check along the way. Risk with know how. It’s like going into battle with a seasoned warrior who knows how to bring something new to game as well. Yes, a company may pay more, but they would get the benefit of two employees in one….a young and seasoned employee in one. But yet due to age, my partner has a harder time moving on to another company from the current job.

I really hope more tech companies understand that they do not have the key to the time machine, that they will keep themselves….and there is true value in diversity of age and experience. And also understand that older workers can bring both experience AND innovation.

And also… Even if a tech company found the key to a time machine that kept everyone Young….. Would you really want to give up all the experience you gained?