-4

Why do companies prefer to employ younger people [on hold] Why do companies prefer to employ younger people

Agism is something very common over 30, and certainly over 40.

3
  • I want to say thanks for raising this issue here. Even if I disagree with reopening it, I am always glad to see more people taking an active interest in questions and meta.
    – enderland
    Apr 15, 2016 at 14:50
  • @enderland Thanks. I'm still learning about this place, and I'm trying to take my questions here and chat instead of the main board Apr 15, 2016 at 15:37
  • 2
    Could you explain why you think the question should be reopened? It wasn't closed because people were denying the existence of ageism - it was closed because it was considered too broad. Your meta question doesn't present any reasoning or evidence to show that the original question does have a reasonably scored answer. Apr 15, 2016 at 21:35

2 Answers 2

8

Too broad. There are many possible reasons, including that this is only true of some companies and some positions.

Also isn't actionable,which is a ding against it on Workplace.A better fit would be "How can older employees/candidates overcome a company's assumptions that younger employees are preferable", though there too I think it's fuzzy if we don't know which preconceptions they are laboring under

2
8

Why do X do Y?

Questions like this are incredibly problematic for two main reasons:

  • they rely on their premise being correct: X do in fact do Y the majority of the time
  • they can only be answered by X or someone with extensive experience with X and Y

The OP's statement that "racism and sexism have largely been removed" is also a dangerous assumption to make and it further baits poor reactions and debate on this issue and detracts from the main question.

While all our questions are opinion-based to some extent, this one is almost certainly too broad to be answered from a personal perspective. While it could remain open if people would answer these properly (i.e. with sources), that's incredibly rare here and the question should specify that it requires sourced answers to avoid polluting the answer pool with demagoguery.


Your answer on this question is an example of why questions like this are problematic. You seemingly answer with authority and make bold statements but those are merely your opinion and will be heavily coloured by your perception of and experience with the worplace. You don't back them up with research, quotes, blogs, articles or demonstrate your experience. Without that yours is just one opinion in a sea of many. DavidK brought up an important point in that regard:

And because you haven't seen it it must be universally false?

As a result you're forced to defend yourself in the comments on that answer which is rapidly turning into a debate where everyone involved is losing.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .