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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.