Author Topic: Companies using Facebook ad targeting to hide job ads from older workers  (Read 1436 times)


littleman

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Re: Companies using Facebook ad targeting to hide job ads from older workers
« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2017, 08:28:11 PM »
Its a shame, most of the best programmers I've known have been in the 40-60 year range.

>Verizon is among dozens of the nation's leading employers — including Amazon, Goldman Sachs, Target and Facebook itself

I guess an advantage with younger workers is that you could treat them like drones and make them work long hours for less pay.

ergophobe

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Re: Companies using Facebook ad targeting to hide job ads from older workers
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2017, 08:49:05 PM »
could treat them like drones and make them work long hours for less pay.

During the heyday of the .com madness, I happened across a job fair on the UC Berkeley campus and stopped in to see what people were offering. One employer told me that her company was a small startup, but a great place to work because they celebrated everyone's birthday and if you made it six months, you got a free DVD player.

I pointed out that nice DVD players were under $100 and six months is over 1000 hours of work, so that's like a $0.10/hr bonus and asked about things like quality of life, flexible work schedules, and things that *I* think make a good work environment. She said "We're a startup. We expect people to work a lot."

It was all I could do to keep from telling her that she was insane and that if she wanted to hire someone with decent analytical skills, she would need to be smarter about how she presented her awesome work culture. But I'm sure there were some desperate college students who thought that all sounded cool. I'd guess few of them had the skills the company needed though.

Since then it's gotten worse. Tons of young people work for a year or more on unpaid internships if their families have the resources to support them in fields where supply outstrips demand (national park ranger being one such field). It's a little-discussed driver of inequality in America.
http://www.epi.org/blog/unpaid-internships-economic-mobility/
« Last Edit: December 27, 2017, 08:53:33 PM by ergophobe »

rcjordan

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Re: Companies using Facebook ad targeting to hide job ads from older workers
« Reply #3 on: December 27, 2017, 09:00:36 PM »
>desperate college students who thought that all sounded cool.

That's sorta my thought when I see a photo of a 'cool' corporate campus with the atrium-style gathering area, games, bean bag chairs, etc. 

rcjordan

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Re: Companies using Facebook ad targeting to hide job ads from older workers
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2017, 03:37:13 AM »

DrCool

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Re: Companies using Facebook ad targeting to hide job ads from older workers
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2017, 02:10:00 PM »
>>That's sorta my thought when I see a photo of a 'cool' corporate campus with the atrium-style gathering area, games, bean bag chairs, etc.

A few years back our VP brought us all together to ask what would make this a better place to work. Most of the younger crowd threw out ideas like that, free meals, etc. He listened to all of them and then said "We can spend the money and do all that if you want but I would rather just pay you bigger bonuses".

>>Its a shame, most of the best programmers I've known have been in the 40-60 year range.

They could probably hire someone right out of college to do what I do for less than half of what I make. But the company would lose a lot of money. In most fields experience is very valuable and expensive.