what is The problem of the drunkard in a valley?

Do Silicon Valley companies, large or small, have an age discrimination problem?

• I came across a series of articles on this topic recently: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/magazine/silicon-valleys-youth-problem.html?ref=magazine&utm_content=buffer1a632&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer&_r=0 http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117088/silicons-valleys-brutal-ageism http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-03-25/silicon-valley-s-age-problem I've never worked in tech or startups, so I'm genuinely curious:  do Silicon Valley companies discriminate, implicitly or explicitly, against older workers and programmers?  The Department of Labor's website says the following: The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination on the basis of age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employment. The ADEA is enforced by the http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eeoc.gov&exitTitle=Equal_Employment_Opportunity_Commission&fedpage=yes. (http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/discrimination/agedisc.htm) Does the EEOC need to take a closer look at Silicon Valley companies' employment practices?

• Answer:

  It does exist at some companies, just like there's still racism, sexism, etc. While I was at Google (not for very long), for example, the environment was weird. They claim to be very open, and it seems easy to believe (and I'm also sure a lot of people there couldn't care less about your race, gender, sexual orientation, race, or... presence of attractiveness (as in, wouldn't think that someone is stupid simply because they are attractive)), but there was a lot of what seemed like discrimination there. A lot of age-related nonsense, a lot of BS directed at anyone with autistic-like problems, a lot of grumbling and BSing if you weren't from one of the top schools, and to a lesser extent sexism and race-related expectations (they are not overtly racist, but it's as though if you are a certain race, then you are expected to accept your stereotypical lot in life--as though you are something lesser than everyone else--and if anything good comes your way, no matter how insignificant, then you should bow at their feet and worship them for being so kind). As far as the race thing, there are also those who aren't exactly racist (as in the proactively racist kinda people that have the most backward beliefs), but everything is a cause to them, and when they see you they just won't stop indirectly bringing up your race and won't ease up about trying to make a spectacle out of you, or draw (negative, as you'd perceive it) attention to you because of your ethnicity. It's as thought they want to constantly remind you of who you are, as there's something there they can't let go, and if it were any worse they'd be no different from those that out right discriminate against others. This race-related foolishness is more directed at those that are African-American, or Hispanic. At the other company I worked at (eBay), it was the same deal, but more directed at your race (constantly trying to find ways to remind you of your ethnicity if you happen to be African-Americans or Hispanic) and gender. Many people there were closer to being middle-aged, and the majority of the age-related BS was directed toward the younger folks.