Uh oh.\u00a0 Another “heavy” topic.\u00a0 Yes. Ageism.<\/p>\n
“But George,” you’re saying, “you promised to start a series on audio engineering.\u00a0 What gives, mate?”\u00a0 To which I respond, “YEAH BUT.”<\/p>\n
(my kids think it works, so I figured I’d try it here too)<\/p>\n
A recent article got the loin-girders in my brain all up in a twist on the subject.\u00a0 And because I’m adequately (?) equipped with opinions<\/em> and a blog<\/em> and FINGERS\u00a0<\/em>this is where it’s coming out.\u00a0 For good or for suck.\u00a0 You be the judge.<\/p>\n Anyway.\u00a0 That’s where we’re going this morning because SQUIRREL<\/p>\n Audio Engineering stuff is on deck once I get some examples recorded so that I can both visually and audibly demonstrate what the devil I’m talking about.\u00a0 Otherwise I’m going to use a lot of words and not be able to quantify any of them.\u00a0 It would be like trying to describe a 7th chord and making it interesting without actually playing one for you. That dog does not hunt.<\/p>\n Side note: this. is. not. all. companies.\u00a0 There are good ones out there.\u00a0 Stand up and be recognized, you’re doing good by your workforce.<\/p>\n Onward!<\/p>\n Tech is where I have the highest degree of familiarity.\u00a0 This is a personal blog, not a research term paper.\u00a0 That last thing sounds too much like work.\u00a0 I have an allergy.<\/p>\n Does ageism exist in other realms?\u00a0 Dear heavens yes.\u00a0 In virtually every single field of work – with the possible exception of American Political theater – it is rampant.\u00a0 Sometimes out in the open, sometimes – as we’re going to discuss later – hidden in the background to be later discovered and ridiculed.\u00a0 That’s usually when the carefully crafted PR apologies come out, except we all see through them as a “we got caught with our hand in the cookie jar” kind of apology.\u00a0 Not the “we recognized a thing that was bad was happening and we have taken steps to fix it of our own volition” kind of apology.<\/p>\n We don’t do those kinds of things.<\/p>\n But back to tech.\u00a0 The articles that I started scanning recently – along with dredging up a metric boatload of memories of years gone by – were mostly focused on the world of computer and tech advancements.\u00a0 So that’s where this is gonna sit for the time being.<\/p>\n Building foundational isms into our culture and history is something we’re so good at it’s almost like it’s our job<\/em> to do so.\u00a0 Racism, Ageism, Sexism, many more isms.\u00a0 And all of them carefully crafted in a way to make it almost seem like there’s a level of plausible deniability because deep down it is known<\/em> that what is happening is just plain wrong but it’s a key component to some perceived notion of success.\u00a0 Therefore, it’s worth it, right?<\/p>\n As my youngest has taken to saying at all times of the day: “Oh COME ON!”<\/p>\n There is absolutely no acceptable justification for discrimination (which is what isms create) based on pretty much anything.\u00a0 Having said that, there are volumes that could be written on each one of those isms.\u00a0 HAVE been written on those isms, in fact.\u00a0 Including today’s topic of ageism. Probably written with better words than the multitude I’m going to use, at that.\u00a0 But for today, this is the one that I’m sticking with because it’s fresh in the brain.\u00a0 If I need to go “heavy” again (there’s that word, almost like there’s a problem with the Earth’s gravitational pull) there’s plenty to draw from.<\/p>\n This isn’t new.\u00a0 Ageism is a tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme.\u00a0 Someone starts at a company and kicks all of the bottoms.\u00a0 Succeeds, advances, brings the company new levels of wealth and power.\u00a0 Palm leaves fanning, grapes fed, etc.<\/p>\n Fast forward to a couple decades later.\u00a0 Because we’re still living in the fantasy world of people staying at a single company for a 30-40 year “career” in my blogiverse.\u00a0 There’s a new bottom-kicker at the bottom of the ladder.\u00a0 They’re All Of The Things<\/strong><\/em>: Better, Faster, and Cheaper.\u00a0 They’re hungry to please, they have ideas, and an immense level of drive and ambition.\u00a0 This new bottom-kicker has every advantage right now because a large company will get much more out of them than the more experienced employee who has been around, isn’t quite as fast, and kicked so much bottom that their advanced salary is not giving them the same yield as it once did.<\/p>\n Out they go.\u00a0 They’ll be given a variety of neutral reasons that satisfy any legal liability concerns and ultimately let that individual – and their experience and expertise – go.\u00a0 That individual will then find themselves in a position where they are too young to “retire” and too old to find a decent position at another company.<\/p>\n That sucks.<\/p>\n Once upon a time, hiring managers would find longevity at a company to be a significant asset.\u00a0 If you stayed at a company that long, you were there through thick and thin and were a valuable contributor to a company culture and success.\u00a0 That trend shifted in the late 90s where longevity began to be perceived as being “stale.” Job hopping – a prospect that was horrifying to me – became a good<\/em> thing and preferential selection was given to people who were willing to jump ship from one place to another to bring competitive edges and experience.\u00a0 Ageism fits into that model nicely: gotta move fast, gotta catch ’em all, old people don’t play Pokemon.<\/p>\n That trend eventually leveled off but my perception is that there are circles where it is still prevalent and thriving.\u00a0 Churn and burn doesn’t really leave much room for culture in my estimation.\u00a0 Then again, I’m nowhere near the churn and burn world so the outside looking in doesn’t look pleasant but maybe they all love it.<\/p>\n So here’s where I present examples of this having happened.\u00a0 Evidence, if you will.\u00a0 I’ll start with a recent example that was uncovered at IBM.<\/p>\n To quote from this article<\/a> at Forbes:<\/p>\n In September 2018, there was a sweeping investigation<\/a> highlighting the alleged abuses of age discrimination within the technology industry. It was reported that IBM fired about 20,000<\/a> American employees over the age of 40, which amounts to about 60% of its total U.S. job cuts during the time period in question.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Over. The. Age. Of. 40.<\/p>\n When this article first popped up, I expected that we’d be looking at a slow shuffling out of folks between the age of 50-60.\u00a0 Also reprehensible.<\/p>\n FORTY is considered too old to keep on board?<\/p>\n Also.\u00a0 60% of their workforce cuts in that 40+ demographic is not something to be proud of.\u00a0 And the fact that it was around 20,000 people on top of that.\u00a0 I just ….. wow.<\/p>\n Full disclosure: This is being written from the perspective of someone in their mid-40s.\u00a0 I sure don’t feel<\/em> ancient but apparently I’m in the “too old to be useful” category.<\/p>\n Some of the highest ranks at IBM were responsible for things like this:<\/p>\n \u201cIBM executives discussed in emails how to force out older workers and derided them as \u201cDinobabies<\/a>\u201d who should be made an \u201cExtinct species,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Dinobabies needing to be made extinct.<\/em><\/p>\n That’s some nefarious and infuriating stuff.<\/p>\n Intel was in the hot seat according to this (paywalled) Article back in 2018 for exactly the same thing: Age-related firings in 2016.<\/p>\n 2018 – Investigated for age-related discrimination<\/a> in firings.<\/p>\n 2013 – Determined to leverage age-related discrimination<\/a> in firings.<\/p>\n 2006 – References to age-related discrimination<\/a> found.<\/p>\n I’m guessing it wouldn’t be too difficult to continue to find more examples of ageism in widespread practice.<\/p>\n Microsoft was the target of a lawsuit<\/a> related to ageism.\u00a0 So uhh, a large company needing to be competitive and finds younger cheaper faster employees to function toward that goal.\u00a0 Check.<\/p>\nWhy just ageism in the tech world? Why not every other place where ageism exists?<\/h2>\n
Why omit other isms?\u00a0 It takes a special kind of jerk to leave that on the table<\/h2>\n
The cold dank history of ageism in the form of sentences<\/h2>\n
Longevity perception changed<\/h2>\n
Examples time!\u00a0 Ageism receipts as the cool kids call them<\/h2>\n
#DinoBabies<\/h3>\n
And another<\/h3>\n
I think we just need a checklist for IBM<\/h3>\n
Seattle isn’t immune to ageism<\/h3>\n
NOT THE GOOGLE!<\/h3>\n