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People in tech do seem to value time which may explain why they are disproportionately drawn to the "Financial Independence, Retire Early" (FIRE) movement. Th

by nugget 6y ago

People in tech do seem to value time which may explain why they are disproportionately drawn to the "Financial Independence, Retire Early" (FIRE) movement. The tech industry continues to be much more supportive of 80 hour weeks until you strike it rich and "retire" early, than it is of steady part-time work over many decades of steady-state work-life balance. But the motivation may be the same for many.

_qulr 6y ago
I think the motivation is actually age discrimination. It's often much harder to find a job when you're older, so you have to strike it rich when you're younger.
- ethanwillis 6y ago
  I'm not even 30 and I was told in a reply to a comment where I suggested a research paper from the 70s, "This is what's wrong with you old people, you just want us to read all of this irrelevant stuff". The irony is the replier was 10 years older than me. So the age discrimination bias is so prevalent even older people buy into it.
  - wrs 6y ago
    Yeesh, that’s a doubly-stupid comment...thinking not only that “old people” must be wrong but that “old papers” must be irrelevant.
    - digaozao 6y ago
      Só true. Usually, paraphrasing taleb here, the "old papers" are more important. They resisted the test of time, and the ones that are still talked about (survivors) are the most relevant, and better insights. While the thousands of papers that appear every year, most of them will be irrelevant.
- ptero 6y ago
  I do not see this around me at all. There is probably some truth in this for the FAANG "work 80 hrs a week, get rich in 5 years" jobs (probably because those who want to work 80+ hours a week and get rich quick-er tend to be young folks without major commitments). However, there are plenty of people around me who are in the 40-60 age bracket, who work in tech, are financially comfortable (even though they do not get FAANG-type salaries), do not work crazy hours and (at least pre-COVID) had no problem changing jobs if the current one became toxic or boring. My 2c.
  - _qulr 6y ago
    > I do not see this around me at all. Are you denying the existence of rampant age discrimination in tech, which has been highlighted countless times by many people? Otherwise, I'm not sure what the comment was intending. > there are plenty of people around me There's a bit of survivorship bias there. The older people driven out of tech may be invisible to you.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - _qulr 6y ago
      Here's some data from the Stack Overflow 2020 developer survey: https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2020#developer-profile-age-professional-developers5 https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2020#developer-pro... Only 17% of professional developers surveyed were age 40+. That vastly disproportionate with the age demographics of the overall human population.
      - pault 6y ago
        You're assuming that the ratio is disproportionate because people are being pushed out of the industry against their will. Some people get burned out, some people retire early, and some transition into management or start their own company. The industry has grown exponentially in the 20-40 years those people have been working. If the industry now is 10x the size it was in 2000 (arbitrary number), then 40 year old developers should be 10% of the workforce, even discounting any other factors. I don't see anything alarming here. I am a 40+ year old developer, and I've never seen anyone my age leave the industry because they were victims of age discrimination. The opposite in fact. I have never had so much clout during job hunting than I do now, with 20 years of on the job experience. Anecdata sure, but that survey is not sound, and it does not attempt to discover whether older developers are actually unable to find work, or what other factors (other than the obvious massive industry growth) might contribute to the imbalance.

by nugget 6y ago

_qulr 6y ago

I think the motivation is actually age discrimination. It's often much harder to find a job when you're older, so you have to strike it rich when you're younger.

ethanwillis 6y ago
I'm not even 30 and I was told in a reply to a comment where I suggested a research paper from the 70s, "This is what's wrong with you old people, you just want us to read all of this irrelevant stuff". The irony is the replier was 10 years older than me. So the age discrimination bias is so prevalent even older people buy into it.
- wrs 6y ago
  Yeesh, that’s a doubly-stupid comment...thinking not only that “old people” must be wrong but that “old papers” must be irrelevant.
  - digaozao 6y ago
    Só true. Usually, paraphrasing taleb here, the "old papers" are more important. They resisted the test of time, and the ones that are still talked about (survivors) are the most relevant, and better insights. While the thousands of papers that appear every year, most of them will be irrelevant.
ptero 6y ago
I do not see this around me at all. There is probably some truth in this for the FAANG "work 80 hrs a week, get rich in 5 years" jobs (probably because those who want to work 80+ hours a week and get rich quick-er tend to be young folks without major commitments). However, there are plenty of people around me who are in the 40-60 age bracket, who work in tech, are financially comfortable (even though they do not get FAANG-type salaries), do not work crazy hours and (at least pre-COVID) had no problem changing jobs if the current one became toxic or boring. My 2c.
- _qulr 6y ago
  > I do not see this around me at all. Are you denying the existence of rampant age discrimination in tech, which has been highlighted countless times by many people? Otherwise, I'm not sure what the comment was intending. > there are plenty of people around me There's a bit of survivorship bias there. The older people driven out of tech may be invisible to you.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - _qulr 6y ago
    Here's some data from the Stack Overflow 2020 developer survey: https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2020#developer-profile-age-professional-developers5 https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2020#developer-pro... Only 17% of professional developers surveyed were age 40+. That vastly disproportionate with the age demographics of the overall human population.
    - pault 6y ago
      You're assuming that the ratio is disproportionate because people are being pushed out of the industry against their will. Some people get burned out, some people retire early, and some transition into management or start their own company. The industry has grown exponentially in the 20-40 years those people have been working. If the industry now is 10x the size it was in 2000 (arbitrary number), then 40 year old developers should be 10% of the workforce, even discounting any other factors. I don't see anything alarming here. I am a 40+ year old developer, and I've never seen anyone my age leave the industry because they were victims of age discrimination. The opposite in fact. I have never had so much clout during job hunting than I do now, with 20 years of on the job experience. Anecdata sure, but that survey is not sound, and it does not attempt to discover whether older developers are actually unable to find work, or what other factors (other than the obvious massive industry growth) might contribute to the imbalance.