A different view

Age Appropriate Employment

It's a bit disheartening watching the video clips of Google employees. Being close to 50 and looking for employment I notice right away what's missing. Anyone over about 35, or who grew up in the fields, or anyone without the sun starved look of the young academic.

Even senior managers look homogeneous to me.

Are computers and the Internet only for young people? The same has been said about many industries as people look for excuses to hire people more like themselves. Whether young, old, black, Japanese, we've seen many bigotries over the centuries. Google and high tech just get by with it more than previous employers.

Apple tried to get rid of all of their senior people at one time. Old timers worked slower, worked fewer hours, and cost more. What they realized after slimming their ranks is that experience was worth a lot, even in the newer multimedia technologies. They worked slower but their code worked first time, was easier to maintain, and had a longer life because it was designed with changes in mind.

As much as Google would like to be the big new thang, there's really not that much that's new under the sun, just different speeds and names.

So to get my qualifications up to date I've been taking some time off and working on some certifications. It seems odd to be forced into taking tests on equipment I designed and helped build.

I interviewed at Home Depot for at least some income while working on all of this. And to be honest, it will be nice to be around people with a bit more balanced personalities. There was a good mix of ages, races, and ethnicities as I walked through the store. It seems that construction supply has been around long enough to know that it's the diversity of people that makes their company strong.

True, Google has been very successful with their hiring requirements. But it seems odd that electronics and high tech, which depends on a mixture of materials added to germanium or silicon to get transistors to work, is so intolerant of this mixture in their work force.

posted by don1one @ 10:21 AM