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Not to make light of the possibly real allegations, but I'd argue the most likely outcome has to do with compensation and productivity than "discrimination" aga

by adra 4y ago

Not to make light of the possibly real allegations, but I'd argue the most likely outcome has to do with compensation and productivity than "discrimination" against a class. The target was probably the least productive employees, aka the ones who make the most and seemingly produce the least amount of value per their compensation. Fleets of middle class people lost their jobs in the decades predating this for the same reasons, and I bet the majority of the high earning staff are probably more likely to have been white men as well (because they were likely the most hired demography hired into those roles made redundant). To quote my most beloved demotivator, "The tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut by the lawn-mower."

prepend 4y ago
All 13 fired employees were over 50 and 9 were male and all were white. The article doesn’t give the department demographics but it’s hard to believe that the entire department was over 50 and white. It will be open and shut if the department has multiple age groups and races.
JumpCrisscross 4y ago
> most likely outcome has to do with compensation and productivity than "discrimination" against a class If you’re overlooking someone because of their short “runway,” and then telling them that, you’re going to get sued. Because you are clearly, provably discriminating based on age.
- adra 4y ago
  Absolutely, if we believe the individual's quoted comment as a fact,then certainly this points to discrimination. The problem is that HN isn't a court of law, and quotes made by litigants haven't been litigated for accuracy. As I stated, the IMHO opinion of ageism usually comes down to value/cost == worth-keeping. I'm in my 40s and still very productive. I work with some people in their 50s and they're great workers. That doesn't mean that all employees working for a company 20 years can or choose to keep working at peak performance. Seniority is often a carrot which can retain employees with deep company wisdom, but it can also inversely over-compensate an employee per their available talents. Maybe they're tired of working there, but forced to because working anywhere else is a 20%+ pay cut. Despite being miserable they could stick it out but just coast. That general pattern (which I have certainly seen with peers over the years), can lead to employees that have b en at a company for so long that their compensation is just completely out of whack with current market rates.
tsuujin 4y ago
That you’re making an assumption that older people can’t be as—or even more—productive than younger people is strikingly on point for this topic.
- adra 4y ago
  I made so such point and in fact we have no idea how well or poorly performing/paid these workers were vs their peers. All anyone reading this article could do is speculate, and my opinion stated was my speculation of the articles statements. I'm very happy to be proven wrong when the facts are brought to light in court but until then, all we can do is navel gaze.

by adra 4y ago

prepend 4y ago

All 13 fired employees were over 50 and 9 were male and all were white. The article doesn’t give the department demographics but it’s hard to believe that the entire department was over 50 and white. It will be open and shut if the department has multiple age groups and races.

JumpCrisscross 4y ago

> most likely outcome has to do with compensation and productivity than "discrimination" against a class If you’re overlooking someone because of their short “runway,” and then telling them that, you’re going to get sued. Because you are clearly, provably discriminating based on age.

adra 4y ago
Absolutely, if we believe the individual's quoted comment as a fact,then certainly this points to discrimination. The problem is that HN isn't a court of law, and quotes made by litigants haven't been litigated for accuracy. As I stated, the IMHO opinion of ageism usually comes down to value/cost == worth-keeping. I'm in my 40s and still very productive. I work with some people in their 50s and they're great workers. That doesn't mean that all employees working for a company 20 years can or choose to keep working at peak performance. Seniority is often a carrot which can retain employees with deep company wisdom, but it can also inversely over-compensate an employee per their available talents. Maybe they're tired of working there, but forced to because working anywhere else is a 20%+ pay cut. Despite being miserable they could stick it out but just coast. That general pattern (which I have certainly seen with peers over the years), can lead to employees that have b en at a company for so long that their compensation is just completely out of whack with current market rates.

tsuujin 4y ago

That you’re making an assumption that older people can’t be as—or even more—productive than younger people is strikingly on point for this topic.

adra 4y ago
I made so such point and in fact we have no idea how well or poorly performing/paid these workers were vs their peers. All anyone reading this article could do is speculate, and my opinion stated was my speculation of the articles statements. I'm very happy to be proven wrong when the facts are brought to light in court but until then, all we can do is navel gaze.