>From the Boston Globe: Ed Blumenstein, 55, of Brookline is not surprised. Eighteen months ago, he retired from his software engineering job so he could enjoy life more fully. He believes the driving force behind the current debate is that senior employees are more likely to be turned off by the intensity and long hours that have come to characterize the techie culture. ''I've worked seven days a week, 12 hours a day,'' said Blumenstein. ''You have to work like a dog or there might be some young kid who wants a new BMW and will work like a dog to get it. Before I left there were young people who slept on futons under their desks, and they are still doing that here in Massachusetts and in California. I really don't think there are people my age who want to do that.'' Bard-Alan Finlan holds a degree in computer engineering from the University of California at San Diego, as well as degrees in music and theology. ''The industry says it wants the most recent skills, the hot skills, Java, for example,'' said Finlan, 43, who works as a temporary senior technician. ''But I could learn Java within a month. I've sent out 200 resumes over the past 15 months, but I can't find a full-time job.'' Finlan, who is married and has two young children, says he has never held the title of computer engineer even though he has the degree. His annual salary? $36,000. ''Companies really don't want people, older people, with families or obligations,'' he said. ''We can't work 60 to 80 hours per week, and they know it.'' Margaret Morganroth Gullette, a resident scholar at Brandeis University, says such observations ought to serve as a wake-up call to the industry and the nation, where, increasingly, older is viewed as obsolete and few companies, particularly those in high tech, are willing to pause long enough to retrain people. She maintains younger workers are ready and willing to put in long hours because the work is so appealing. But as they age, that appeal lessens. Suddenly, Little League takes precedence over late-night bull sessions on the job. ''What we are seeing in this industry and in others is something I call middle-ageism,'' said Gullette. ''If people start losing out by 35 or 45, then how can anyone win in America anymore?'' ----- This is very perceptive. Columbia's EDP department is filled with people in their forties and fifties who have absolutely no interest in the dog-eat-dog world of Wall St. computer programming. Anybody who has a job right now and who can afford to pay their rent and incidentals has absolutely no motivation to change jobs, since the industry is such a grind right now. The people hopping from job to job are mostly in their 20s to early 30s. What you have is a two-tier industry. The joints like Microsoft, First Boston, etc. pay top dollars and work you to the bone. The insurance companies, universities, city jobs pay less and offer relative job security. There are very few defections from one sector to the other. Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
