What's the State of Ageism?

I am 77 years old and I have been programming pretty much continuously since 1974.

I think what looks like ageism is often not (but probably sometimes is).

It's more that, for most business programming roles, experience stops being cumulative at some point. For example, for a Java developer, 5-7 years is probably about where experience tops out, and beyond that it doesn't really help if you have 15 years experience in Java, or you have experience in Perl before you did Java, etc.

Cumulative experience of 10, 20, 30 years is really only useful for highly specialized roles (writing compilers, database engines, operating systems), management, etc.

I would worry less about ageism, and more about working on a track where experience is valued.

I'm in my 30s. It's not so much ageism, but my employability is much lower than it was in the past. Now I have a family (higher benefit costs, less off hours support), I am not able to learn things as quickly, and I've lost a lot of motivation since past grinding never paid off.

So yeah, my age is a problem, but it's not ageism.

I have never really seen it for any developer still in the game, regardless of age. Many developers kind of check out at some point, but that isn’t ageism. Some people never lose the fire and skill is cumulative.

It’s not about age, it’s about experience. Once you get to 15-20 years nobody will want to hire you anymore.

Look into it, it’s real. The people saying otherwise are either lifers at their company or lying.

Ageism is inherent to the human experience. When we see a 21 year old our brain is filled with abstract visions of the future and potential. When we see a 35 year old we expect them to have completed their journeys and have a firm entrenchment in their hierarchies. Seeing a 50 year old we expect them to have experience they are passing down. Failing to meet these expectations carries an implicit discrimination that is innate.

No age, but that supposes you do networking, have soft-skills and is likeable.

The amount of opportunities available to me just grow year after year, because I get to know more people (which also move to different companies), that would like to work with me in the future.

Just be a person that ships, makes things work, in a friendly mood and you are set for life.

People you work with also grow in their careers, which means that often enough, they make the calls on who gets hired and who doesn't.

I think that during your 50s, you should have built a good "base," though, like paying off your mortgage. You should have more leeway to actually take life in a less demanding way, so perhaps do some consulting or not work full-time and earn a living to retire in peace.

As a 49 year old unemployed programmer (5 years now), I _should_ have started worrying about it at 35. Didn't really see it coming TBH, but my life also got complicated in other respects.

Legally speaking, the protected class related to age in the US is 40+. Assuming that number wasn’t plucked out of the sky, I’d say that would be when you can start to worry.

As long as you’re actually competent I don’t think it would be too much of an issue. For someone who comes off as green with their skills, a company is more likely to take a gamble on someone young than someone older.

You should never be worried about it, just aware of it. In my experience, ageism is really only a serious issue in specific segments of the software industry. Outside of those, you'll be just fine.

I think it can be location and company specific too. In some cities hiring is hard to do, so they take what they can get. And some company cultures value experience and stability, others like younger devs.

My experience has been that most devs in their 40s and 50s can run circles around those in their 20s and early 30s. If someone is already good in their 20s they're likely a savant. TL;DR the biggest thing is managing your career intelligently. I think there's more risk when you approach 50, but the same is true in every industry.