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Subject:Ageism From:geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA Date:Mon, 21 Oct 1996 08:18:58 -0500
Why is there discrimination against older employees? I'd
bet the single biggest reason is that they earn more:
companies pay more for folks with 30 years of experience
than folks with 5 years. Why do older folks often get laid
off first? Well, apart from saving the salary dollars, the
older folk are likely higher up in the company, and with
the recent trend towards downsizing, rightsizing, and
"flattening the hierarchy", it's the middle managers who
live closest to the guillotine.
Yes, some older folk are likely to have more health
problems (bodies wear out), or a hardening of the mental
arteries (though even young sprats like me get too
comfortable sometimes), but that's more often an excuse
than the real reason. The real reason? Failure to recognize
the individiaul value of people, and the consequent
tendency to evaluate people by numbers rather than facts.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
