Ageism, alive and prevalent- s---s if you are over 50 and laid off. Good luck.
Great article here- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/age-discrimination-workplace-risebut-its-hard-prove-john-mcdermott?trk=eml-email_feed_ecosystem_digest_01-hero-0-null&midToken=AQHbJ-kA3sOsEQ&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=0fWTayTuYMQTw1
@2mdl. Thank you so much for sharing that article.
And you are so correct- ageism is an industry problem that is getting worse all the time. I am grateful that I had the chance to work for 2 companies in my 36 year career that were great. One was Honeywell. (WAS)
I'm sorry for the younger ones coming up. Hopefully the industry environment will change for them.
Thanks again for the article-
I think this is the article I read previously about fighting ageism on a resume... if not, it covers the same points. https://resumegenius.com/how-to-write-a-resume/combat-age-discrimination
http://susanireland.com/resume/how-to-write/work-experience/dates/
Post below... "No one wants to hire a 60 year old". That very well may be the case... This just shows its not a HW specific problem. Its an industry issue. The reason it seems like ageism is because they are focusing on Band 4 and manager roles... and guess who is in those roles... "wise" people.
Like a previous commenter said, HR will strategically evenly distribute the age so it doesn't seem like ageism. We are all effected by this, young or old. The old folks are just yelling louder becsuse OTHER companies wont hire them. This is not HW being ageist, its simply the society we live in.
That being said, i saw an article on how to fight ageism on your resume. (I'll try to find the link). It essentially said only include jobs after 2000 and avoid older dates that are not needed. And of course, stay up to date in skills.
To the younger ones posting here: thanks for sharing the other side of this issue. And I agree and see your point. But imagine this. You are now 60 years old, gave your career here and are 5 years away from retirement. You have saved well, but having to pay full cost for healthcare because of Obamacare and the fact you are not 65 screws you out of retiring early. Now you get laid off. No one wants to hire a 60 year old. They can't even come close to your previous pay. They can figure out from your resume your age bracket. All that money you saved for retirement at 65 goes fast with a job paying half (if you are lucky) and health care costs.
As long as you are young enough to get away from this and still have a full career ahead of you- say 45 or younger- do yourself a favor and start looking around. I wish I had-
I agree with poster below me. S---s to be a younger person in today's workforce. Only way I ever gotten a raise or promotion is by switching companies. The issue is you fall behind your peers if you don't do it often and you get criticized by employers if you do it too often!
You guys are out of your mind if you think younger workers are treated any better.
You don't get promoted ever and there is 0 chance to move up in your career. The only hope is to switch teams or companies.
So think about having a job where the only way to move up in rank is to leave for other teams or other company. That is your future at Honeywell. They only offer promotion when you put your 2 weeks in.
Younger people have it worse...they have 0 future here.
It is crazy.
Honeywell has lost so much legacy product knowledge they can't support their products anymore, much less invent new ones and know the pitfalls to watch for
Not to worry, higher salaries for older workers is something Honeywell thinks they can eliminate going forward. The bigger problem for younger workers is that for every oldster walked out the door there will be a young sacrificial lamb also laid off to make the RIF appear to be age neutral.
The simple reality is that older people incur greater medical costs and tend to have higher salaries. Management knows that. It is a losing battle. Dye your grey hair and hope for the best. Honeywell isn't known for being kind to employees. You youngsters can smirk now but the terminator will come get you in good time.
Just a changing of the guard..... I remember how many people were using walkers and had oxygen tanks in Torrance when I showed up there for 6 Sigma training in 1999. Natural evolution I think.
Younger engineers were using software tools that I (an old-timer) wasn't using yet. But, the new tools had nothing to do with my function. That's because my function (design engineering) had been offshored to India. Not that anyone told me in advance that the plan was to permanently abolish my function in the U.S.
Totally agree and I have constantly kept myself up to date with ongoing training and classes. I have watched way too many great engineers get 'let go' after 20+ years and in their 50's. As a millennial I really understand that there is no way you will get this. But I hope, sincerely, you will remember this conversation when you are in your 50's.
And please don't assume that just because someone has been here for 20+ years they have not kept themselves up to date in the tech realm. I assure you, most of us 'oldies' are smart, hard working and up to date. I have many millennials under me in my team- they are sharp and great to work with and train. But make no mistake. They are being mentored and trained by someone older. For a reason.
I wish you a long successful career, wherever that may be-
But watch out. Honeywell lost a multi million dollar ageism lawsuit a few years ago- they have a rep for this for a reason-
While I agree it is present, I can't tell you how many times I've been asked "can you do this [technical thing], you are a millennial and good with computers".
You can't just keep operating the way you have been for 20+ years. Stay up to date with the latest technologies and methods to avoid propagating stereotypes leading to ageism.