269 people join class-action lawsuit against Google claiming age discrimination
If age alone isn&#x27;t a reliable factor in determining success, then why do most of the big Silicon Valley companies lean young? Shouldn&#x27;t economics sort them out if they really aren&#x27;t getting more bang for their buck with younger employees? Couldn&#x27;t I get way more done by gaming the market (and therefore <i>win</i>) if I only hired older employees who were rejected by Google solely for their age? I see lots of conspiracy theories here, but none answer that question.<p>It seems to me like young employees may have a few properties going for them (<i>on average</i>), that may be less true as they age:<p>-motivation&#x2F;drive&#x2F;desire to put in hours<p>-low cost<p>-flexibility<p>-creativity&#x2F;fresh ideas<p>-more likely to bond with other young employees, and participate in company culture (instead of having a family they need to spend time with).<p>To me, it basically means that for basic software engineering, at a certain point you actually do (on average) become less valuable as you age, <i>unless</i> you move up into system architecture, specialism&#x2F;subject matter expertise, or management.