GETTING OLD AT A YOUNG AGE
In the old days, executives who had gone as far as they could go were said
to be "on a plateau"; now, in the new economy, executives in that condition
are on a ledge, as corporate America faces a new era, in which age 40 is
starting to be considered old. In a non-hierarchic, dynamic, high-tech
world, companies prize flexibility, energy, and "new ideas"; they tend to
place less value on experience and judgment. So companies have less and
less tolerance for the idea of paying older employees twice what they are
paying for younger ones. So out go the old and in come the new. The
half-life of computer engineers, for example is getting increasingly
shorter, and the head of IEEE-USA says, "It used to be that when you talked
about age challenges in employment, it was people age 50, 55, or above.
Now, well, I've had people in their late 30s tell me they've had people look
at them and say, 'Wow, you're kind of old for a programming job, aren't
you?'." An AARP study confirms this gloomy situation in these words: "The
traits most commonly desired for the new world of work are flexibility,
acceptance of change, and the ability to solve problems independently --
performance attributes on which managers generally did not rate older
workers highly. The message is consistent: managers generally view older
workers as less suitable for the future work environment than other segments
of the work force." (Nina Munk, "Finished At Forty," Fortune 22 Jan 99)
