Age discrimination at Facebook? I'm shocked
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To bad for verizon that under-40 copy editiors don't know grammer or speling
The libertarian in me says, "hey, hire who you want: it's your company". The lawyer in me says, "are you friggin' nuts? Class action!" And the realist side of me says, "who cares? You're [or "your" — whatever] over 40, you'll never get hired anyway".
A joint investigation by the New York Times and ProPublica revealed that the telecoms giant recently posted a recruitment ad for jobs in financial planning and analysis - but restricted the post to Facebook feeds for users aged between 25 to 36, who lived in Washington DC and demonstrated an interest in finance.
That meant that an older yet more experienced financier living in the capital, even one looking for jobs in their field, would never see the ad.
Facebook Careers also posted an ad for jobs in their own engineering department, although only people aged 21 to 55 who live in the United States could see it.
'We completely reject the allegation that these advertisements are discriminatory,' said Rob Goldman, a Facebook vice president.
'Used responsibly, age-based targeting for employment purposes is an accepted industry practice and for good reason: it helps employers recruit and people of all ages find work.'
I suspect that Mr. Goldman and his employer will soon learn that "age-based targeting" for employment, illegal since 1967, is an expensive way to weed out older job seekers. Subtlety, Goldman, subtlety. You might want to hire an aging WASP and learn how Jews were excluded from the Ivies, or an old southern Democrat to teach you how blacks were kept in their proper place in "the good old days".
