Anonymous has left a new comment on Our Story "Is Hiring Age Discrimination Ok With John Stossel ...":
While I absolutely agree that ANY employee evaluation should be based on performance and that discrimination based on age is WRONG, it also must be said that there is a misconception that older employees...people who have been with a company for many years...are "good workers". Often times they are not!
I can't speak to the rest of the world but it's been my observation that here in the US and particularly in some specialized fields that very often older workers become VERY complacent, set in their ways, are unopen to change or new ideas and frequently do ONLY the minimum required to get by (compared with a younger person who may be quite eager to prove themselves). They've been doing their job for so long that they've become narrow minded and...well...just plain lazy.
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Of course many companies (or hiring managers) want the most they can get out of an employee for as little pay as possible. It's not a matter of right or wrong, that's simply the way things are. As a small business owner, if "John" is 20 years old and willing to do twice the work of "Bob" who's 40, and John is willing to do it for half the pay (maybe John and his young bride just had their first kid and NEED the money), then you bet I'm going to hire John, regardless of Bob's "experience".
We Americans have BS'd ourselves into believing that we have some sort of god-given right to a good job with full benefits and that as a general rule, we shouldn't have to work too hard for it (consider current issues with American workers in the agricultural industry right now...Americans do NOT like to work hard). However, many companies these days are simply unwilling to pay an employee $20 to $30 an hour (or more) to sit on their dead butts for 6 hours out of an 8 hour shift, regardless of experience or their time with the company.
Very simply, American workers need to re-think their values. As recent economy conditions have proven with many people layed off or out of work, people are NOT entitled to a job (or benefits) just because they think they should be. If America is going to compete in this global economy...which is NOT going away...then people need to learn that they have to work for their daily bread and that it's just not the 1950's any more. Welcome to the new world.....
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It's hard to argue with some of the specifics mentioned in this article. Hopefully, some of the talents of older workers and the benefits of hiring them can be determined during the job interview. One thing that bothers me as an older worker looking for work is the criteria often used to determine one's personality and tendencies and the subjective methodoligies used to determine them. Example, handwriting, body language, misleading questions and the list goes on. I was always raised to be honest, not to fudge a resume or falsify or overstate my accomplishments. However some advice given to day seems to okay exaggerating a resume, etc. I often wonder if companies are looking for intgretity or honesty or how they view these character values. Having said all of that, I can understand why companies hire younger workers whose output may be superior to older workers and whose starting salary expectations are lower, however, given today's economy - I think older workers are often willing to accept lower salaries too. Just my thoughts.
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