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This article reminds me of the HN post about the newly planned Google office, where the renderings featured young twentysomethings, almost exclusively. Conside

This article reminds me of the HN post about the newly planned Google office, where the renderings featured young twentysomethings, almost exclusively. Considering the Zuckerberg comment, we have to realize that ageism in tech is not only wrong, it's not sustainable. We all age. As this article mentions, twentysomething grads will become thirtysomething parents. Building a tech culture that ignores this fact is ridiculous, but it's our current reality.

michaelochurch 12y ago
Considering the Zuckerberg comment, we have to realize that ageism in tech is not only wrong, it's not sustainable. What we have to do is make sure that all of the older engineers who "age out of" the Valley move to the same place: could be Chicago, Boulder, Austin, maybe Portland or even Minneapolis. Probably not NYC (I'm fond of it, but it's too expensive to raise a family). Doesn't matter where so much as that the place exists. If any one urban area can capture 15% of the programmers who age out of the Valley, for a decade or two, it'll have more talent than that shithole and be able to out-compete it.
- mavelikara 12y ago
  +1 for Portland.
serve_yay 12y ago
Ageism isn't even on the radar, my friend. And it's ironic too, because as you mention, it affects every one of us. But the current hot topics are diversity and gender discrimination. No problem there, but I have noticed that even people who take those two issues very seriously implicitly blow off the ageism thing. I think people just do not want to acknowledge that they're going to get older too, I think they put it out of their minds. I've literally had a conversation with someone who said he wanted to make sure we don't just hire a bunch of people like him (i.e., white males who went to the same college he did). Then a few minutes later he made a snide remark about "some old guy" (the old guy was an engineer he was unfamiliar with). So, I am very pessimistic about the prospect of this issue getting any real attention.
tsotha 12y ago
>Considering the Zuckerberg comment, we have to realize that ageism in tech is not only wrong, it's not sustainable. We all age. Eh, what? Sure it is. As long as they can find new young people they can replace the older people. How do you think things got the way they are? The tech industry in Silicon Valley is far older than a single generation.

michaelochurch 12y ago

Considering the Zuckerberg comment, we have to realize that ageism in tech is not only wrong, it's not sustainable. What we have to do is make sure that all of the older engineers who "age out of" the Valley move to the same place: could be Chicago, Boulder, Austin, maybe Portland or even Minneapolis. Probably not NYC (I'm fond of it, but it's too expensive to raise a family). Doesn't matter where so much as that the place exists. If any one urban area can capture 15% of the programmers who age out of the Valley, for a decade or two, it'll have more talent than that shithole and be able to out-compete it.

mavelikara 12y ago
+1 for Portland.

serve_yay 12y ago

Ageism isn't even on the radar, my friend. And it's ironic too, because as you mention, it affects every one of us. But the current hot topics are diversity and gender discrimination. No problem there, but I have noticed that even people who take those two issues very seriously implicitly blow off the ageism thing. I think people just do not want to acknowledge that they're going to get older too, I think they put it out of their minds. I've literally had a conversation with someone who said he wanted to make sure we don't just hire a bunch of people like him (i.e., white males who went to the same college he did). Then a few minutes later he made a snide remark about "some old guy" (the old guy was an engineer he was unfamiliar with). So, I am very pessimistic about the prospect of this issue getting any real attention.

tsotha 12y ago

>Considering the Zuckerberg comment, we have to realize that ageism in tech is not only wrong, it's not sustainable. We all age. Eh, what? Sure it is. As long as they can find new young people they can replace the older people. How do you think things got the way they are? The tech industry in Silicon Valley is far older than a single generation.