Finished at Forty


This cover story is an attention-getting  article
about today's workplace.  "Skills that come with
age count for less and less.  40 is starting to look
and feel old."

An overriding theme in the article is that workers
over 40, trying to maintain their standard of living
just as their expenses are peaking, are being
replaced by people half their age, who work for
much less pay, who have more stamina, are willing
to work long hours, and generally have up-to-date
computer skills and attitudes.

The article contains several very good sidebars.
One is entitled "Suspect Age Bias?  Try Proving It.",
and the other is entitled "How to Work for a Kid."

The article does remind us of all the virtues of age
and experience such as judgment, commitment to
quality, being on time, and being less likely to quit.

However, the article also looks at the future when
it suggests that the solution, albiet harsh, is probably
to move to performance-based compensation.  If you
don't implement new ideas, save your company money,
accomplish what you set out to do, and do all that
in a high value job, then you may get a pay cut
instead of a raise, no bonus, and a shorter vacation
next year.