Age Discrimination on HighTechnology Companies

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Age Discrimination on High-Technology Companies

• Ariani Parjanto
• MGMT 610
• Feb 26, 2003

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Overview

• What is Age Discrimination?
• Why is it important?
• Legal Law ADEA
• Facts of high-tech companies
• Pros and Cons
• Types of claims cases
• Suggestions

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Age Discrimination

• is the process of making decisions affecting an
  employee based wholly, or partly, upon the age of
  the employee, except in those cases where age is
  a bona fide occupational qualification. (ADEA)
• Two forms
• Age-related comments
• Adverse employment actions/decisions

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Facts

• 78 million baby boomers reach their senior years.
• 1998-2008, people aged 55 and above will reach to
  nearly 48 ? gt25 million.
• of age discrimination cases
• 1993 ? 2.2
• 1999 ? 8.3

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Age Discrimination in Employment Act

• Protects individuals 40 years of age or older.
• Protects both employees and job applicants.
• Discrimination include hiring, firing,
  promotion, layoff, compensation, benefits, job
  assignments, and training.
• Applies to employers with 20 or more employees,
  state and local governments, employment agencies,
  labor organizations, and federal government.

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ADEA (contd)

• Proof of age discrimination claims
• Direct evidence e.g. comments
• Circumstantial evidence prima facie case.
• The plaintiff must show that
• gt40 years old when action occurred
• Qualified for the position
• Suffered an adverse employment action
• Treated less favorably than others
• Employers provide legitimate nondiscriminatory
  reasons for the actions.
• If not, employers pay some amounts of
  compensatory damage to the employee.

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Facts of High-Tech Companies

• NSA ? College-graduate workers
• 45 and older 37
• Computer scientists and programmers 23
• over 55 12
• IT field 5
• 30 of tech professionals over 45 have either
  witnessed or experienced age bias.
• ITAA ? 346,000 unfilled IT positions.
• Older people are struggling with their job search.

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Pros

• Employers perceptions about older workers
• Do not have the energy and commitment of younger
  workers.
• Less willing to work long hours.
• Resistant to change.
• Lack the precise set of skills and experience
  demanding in the job description.
• More afraid to learn technology.
• Present a cultural mismatch in the youth-oriented
  IT field.
• Overqualified requiring too high salary.

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Cons

• Difficulties in finding jobs does not prove age
  discrimination.
• E.g. Intel
• average employee age ? 36
• invest in employee training
• difficulties to find senior qualified talent
• Older workers are valuable because
• better communicators
• problem solver

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Types of Claims

• Claims based on technological needs.
• e.g. Qualcomm, Inc.
• Sheehan v. Daily Racing Form, Inc.
• Claims based on age-related statements.
• e.g. Notaro v. Digital Equipment Corp.
• Claims based on reduction in workforce.
• e.g. Hartley v. Wisconsin Bell, Inc.

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Preventing from age discrimination

• Why?
• Filing lawsuits
• Expensive
• Time consuming
• The victory is uncertain
• Emotionally distractive

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Suggestions

• For employees
• Update skills job-related training.
• Networking
• enhance relationship with people
• search for jobs through Internet, list-services,
  social events, etc.
• Inside information - find the criteria for layoff
  
• e.g. seniority.
• Talk to HR director
• Documentation records of events, memos,
  comments, dates, names of people, and job
  evaluation.

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Suggestions (contd)

• For employers/companies
• Internal training
• ADEA
• Technology job-related topic
• Documentation
• Reasons of actions
• Employees performance evaluation
• Audit prior to workforce reduction
• Offer an early retirement incentive plans with
  attractive packages instead of layoff older
  workers.

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Questions or Comments?

• Judge your people for whats in their heads,
• not for whats on their heads.
• -Harvey Ettig.