4 ms·

I'm early 40s at the moment. I love technology, and love programming and system tinkering/admin in particular. I'm currently a CTO/CIO in a niche industry, alth

by rufugee 11y ago

I'm early 40s at the moment. I love technology, and love programming and system tinkering/admin in particular. I'm currently a CTO/CIO in a niche industry, although I write code almost daily and participate in various technical trenches many CIOs wouldn't venture into on a daily basis due to lack of resources. I am sadly terrified of getting older. Not because I fear death (well, maybe a little), but I fear the silver ceiling this industry seems to place on many. Sure, the CIO/CTO thing might help, but I'm not banking on it. I've seen so many qualified folks get replaced by younger, unqualified ones just because of the way IT tends to favor the young. Now I look at my own daughter, who is very interested in following in my footsteps and is already programming and Lego mindstorm'ing, and I really, sincerely hesitate to push her in that direction. I love the craft and think it's very personally rewarding as a creative outlet, but not only is there this silver ceiling, but to stay current you are constantly required to be learning. I spend almost all my spare time working to stay current. I see friends who are lawyers or accountants, and while I would probably die of boredom in either field, there seems to be nowhere near the level of effort to stay current in those fields. While I don't think the constant learning requirement has a solution, I really hope to get some time in the future thinking deeply about the silver ceiling problem. Not just for me, but for my tech friends. I personally employee two 60+ folks on my team, and they're great resources. I wish other companies would view them in this way. It seems there is something which could be done...even if it's a company which distinguishes itself by making a point of hiring senior, aging folks for solving problems which require that level of experience. However, that of course has it's own difficult problems to solve (namely, a senior employee likely has a lot of his/her own personal overhead to cover, so salary requirements will be understandably greater). Still, if the problems were out there, perhaps a company like that could thrive. Perhaps. Anyway, just the ramblings of a early forties techie who thinks/worries a lot about this. One day I'll take action either way, because there will come a time where there is no other choice ;)

tonyedgecombe 11y ago
"namely, a senior employee likely has a lot of his/her own personal overhead to cover, so salary requirements will be understandably greater" I wouldn't assume that, once the mortgage is paid off and kids have left home the cost of living plummets. In fact there could be a real cost advantage if nobody else is offering them a job.
- shostack 11y ago
  That's a big and dangerous assumption. Take the Bay Area...many people living here now that will likely never be able to buy a home if prices stay even close to where they are (let alone ever pay it off if they did). So then they have large mortgages or high rents. There's also increased risk of major medical expenses, the baggage of paying for things like divorces, college, etc.
  - tonyedgecombe 11y ago
    Right now you can assume those with high mortgages are in their twenties and thirties, someone in their fifties probably sorted their housing problem twenty five years ago.
    - shostack 11y ago
      Again--that's a big assumption. Would love to know what data you are basing that on. It is dangerous to assume a certain narrative about a certain demographic like that.
      - tonyedgecombe 11y ago
        It's not a big assumption, or did you think peoples mortgages increased with age?
b_emery 11y ago
> I personally employee two 60+ folks on my team, and they're great resources. I wish other companies would view them in this way. It seems there is something which could be done...even if it's a company which distinguishes itself by making a point of hiring senior, aging folks for solving problems which require that level of experience. We have a late 50's engineer who we're constantly trying to keep from retiring. The guy is just so experienced and so good that we're able to do things that we'd otherwise not be able to do. I see the silver ceiling as a niche thing. There might be areas were fast young and cheap will win, but there are certainly others where having a bunch of highly skilled 60+'s is a competitive advantage. After all, this is intellectual work we're talking about, not basketball or something.

by rufugee 11y ago

tonyedgecombe 11y ago

"namely, a senior employee likely has a lot of his/her own personal overhead to cover, so salary requirements will be understandably greater" I wouldn't assume that, once the mortgage is paid off and kids have left home the cost of living plummets. In fact there could be a real cost advantage if nobody else is offering them a job.

shostack 11y ago
That's a big and dangerous assumption. Take the Bay Area...many people living here now that will likely never be able to buy a home if prices stay even close to where they are (let alone ever pay it off if they did). So then they have large mortgages or high rents. There's also increased risk of major medical expenses, the baggage of paying for things like divorces, college, etc.
- tonyedgecombe 11y ago
  Right now you can assume those with high mortgages are in their twenties and thirties, someone in their fifties probably sorted their housing problem twenty five years ago.
  - shostack 11y ago
    Again--that's a big assumption. Would love to know what data you are basing that on. It is dangerous to assume a certain narrative about a certain demographic like that.
    - tonyedgecombe 11y ago
      It's not a big assumption, or did you think peoples mortgages increased with age?

b_emery 11y ago

> I personally employee two 60+ folks on my team, and they're great resources. I wish other companies would view them in this way. It seems there is something which could be done...even if it's a company which distinguishes itself by making a point of hiring senior, aging folks for solving problems which require that level of experience. We have a late 50's engineer who we're constantly trying to keep from retiring. The guy is just so experienced and so good that we're able to do things that we'd otherwise not be able to do. I see the silver ceiling as a niche thing. There might be areas were fast young and cheap will win, but there are certainly others where having a bunch of highly skilled 60+'s is a competitive advantage. After all, this is intellectual work we're talking about, not basketball or something.