but you do have to stay up to date with tech, and that is a battle that gets harder and harder as you age.
Wait what? That right there is blatant age-ism.
You know what helps learn new technology? When it's the same shit we did 15 years ago repackaged. WSDL is coming back around right now, just in JSON or Protobuf form. Don't you think mobile apps that have to sync with the server are a lot like server/client apps from the 90s?
To think that it's hard to pickup a new language just because you are 50 is really missing the forest for the trees of what it means to be a software engineer.
I think his point is more related to the learning curve.
If you're in your fifties it doesn't mean that you are stupid but it does mean that you're going to have to learn a lot of technologies from the recruiting company's stack.
Now if they can find someone that already know's them, their return on investment will be faster and safer.
The older developer will also most likely not program on his free time for family reasons or because he has more interesting hobbies.
Now this is controversial but I still would say that this is career / life choice which means that not having a very sexy resume won't get you everywhere no matter what your experience is.
This of course sounds very "hipsterish" but if you loot at the kinds of companies that are talked about here (start-ups and ex-startups that grew), it does make financial sense.
I'm not a psychologist but I would also wager that age gap is lowering team performance due to a lesser bond / closeness between the members.
I tried to formulate a response to it as well, but it was impossible to even figure out where to begin. I'm thankful I'm at a company that proves all of his assumptions wrong.
Wait what? That right there is blatant age-ism.
You know what helps learn new technology? When it's the same shit we did 15 years ago repackaged. WSDL is coming back around right now, just in JSON or Protobuf form. Don't you think mobile apps that have to sync with the server are a lot like server/client apps from the 90s?
To think that it's hard to pickup a new language just because you are 50 is really missing the forest for the trees of what it means to be a software engineer.