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Isn't it pretty easy to tell the age of someone by their resume? I mean, if they put the year they graduated college, that means they were 22 or close to that,

by socrates1998 10y ago

Isn't it pretty easy to tell the age of someone by their resume? I mean, if they put the year they graduated college, that means they were 22 or close to that, right? I know that's a generalization, but given Google's data on people, I think it would insanely simple for them to discriminate based on age even if you tried to hide it from them. I don't know, clearly, but I would guess Google and other tech companies do this because it's cheaper to hire young people, right?

Buge 10y ago
Why would it be cheaper to hire young people? Google doesn't give a pension.
- greenyoda 10y ago
  - It's easier to convince young people to accept lower salaries and work long hours (e.g., if they have no family to support or spend time with). - It's more expensive to buy health insurance for an older pool of employees. - Young people are probably less likely to be dissatisfied with cheap work accommodations like open-plan offices. On the other hand, there are increased efficiencies associated with older employees: - People earlier in their career might have significantly higher job-turnover rates. - Older employees have more work experience, and can prevent lots of problems before they happen. - Older employees have had the time to become better at what they do. I don't think the best developers reach their peak skills after only working for 5 years.[1] Learning from your mistakes takes time. (I'm a developer in my 50s, and I work with lots of older developers who are good at what they do.) [1] See, for example, Peter Norvig's "Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years": https://norvig.com/21-days.html https://norvig.com/21-days.html
  - drawkbox 10y ago
    > It's more expensive to buy health insurance for an older pool of employees. Until we disconnect health insurance from employment like everywhere else in the world, ageism will be a problem in every industry. We don't get auto, life, home or any other insurance from employment, why the most important and one that contributes to ageism?
    - dredmorbius 10y ago
      Why: WWII wage controls & Risk pools. I agree that US health care should catch up with 20th century advanced nations.

Buge 10y ago

Why would it be cheaper to hire young people? Google doesn't give a pension.

greenyoda 10y ago
- It's easier to convince young people to accept lower salaries and work long hours (e.g., if they have no family to support or spend time with). - It's more expensive to buy health insurance for an older pool of employees. - Young people are probably less likely to be dissatisfied with cheap work accommodations like open-plan offices. On the other hand, there are increased efficiencies associated with older employees: - People earlier in their career might have significantly higher job-turnover rates. - Older employees have more work experience, and can prevent lots of problems before they happen. - Older employees have had the time to become better at what they do. I don't think the best developers reach their peak skills after only working for 5 years.[1] Learning from your mistakes takes time. (I'm a developer in my 50s, and I work with lots of older developers who are good at what they do.) [1] See, for example, Peter Norvig's "Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years": https://norvig.com/21-days.html https://norvig.com/21-days.html
- drawkbox 10y ago
  > It's more expensive to buy health insurance for an older pool of employees. Until we disconnect health insurance from employment like everywhere else in the world, ageism will be a problem in every industry. We don't get auto, life, home or any other insurance from employment, why the most important and one that contributes to ageism?
  - dredmorbius 10y ago
    Why: WWII wage controls & Risk pools. I agree that US health care should catch up with 20th century advanced nations.