Communications of the ACM
Is Tech Getting Older or Less Ageist?
Translating customer requirements into a product design gets easier with experience, a worker said.
Credit: Getty Images
Tech has long been seen as a young person's world. Has it gotten older?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average age of an Internet professional is 34.6 years. In 2013, Payscale reviewed the median age across 32 tech companies and discovered that just six had a median age over 35. By contrast, the median age in the U.S. for non-tech jobs is 42.3 years. In tech the average age of a developer is 29 years.
But as tech has become ingrained in work and play, "the whole idea that tech is only for young people no longer makes any sense at all," says GitHub's senior developer advocate Christina Warren.
Experience can bring more thoughtful solutions to complicated problems, says Rust developer Clint Byrnum. "We just start to realize the futility of solving every poorly defined problem with an editor and a case of Red Bull," he says.
"If musicians and politicians can still be at the top of their game at that age, why can't we?" asks Saxonica founder Michael Kay.
From TechRepublic
View Full Article
No entries found