Just because there are older folks struggling to find jobs after not keeping up skills doesn't mean there isn't also ageism, and it can become problematic when everyone disregards the ageism by saying it's all just meritocratic and skills based.

I think there are lots of younger developers in the hiring process who start out with a bias of assuming older developers have atrophied skills. Then when that bias makes it harder for older developers to find jobs, the younger developers say "ah, well that's meritocracy for you".

Beautifully said. Ageism is real.

This isn't true at all. Think of other professionals - lawyers, doctors, professors, etc.

A doctor specializes in one aspect - surgeon, anesthesiologist, ER, GP, psychiatry, etc. They might pivot once in their career, but most of them don't, and they're able to find employment as long as they're able and willing.

I know several lawyers, and most of them had to specialize by their early 30's if they ever want to make decent money - family law, real estate, employment, personal injury, whatever. Again, the older the lawyer, the more seniority they have and higher they can bill at most firms.

How many professors in academia do you know that have experience teaching in multiple schools, e.g. business, engineering, social sciences, etc? Not many, usually they have a very narrow niche.

The problem with the tech industry is mostly due to offshoring, the rapid (and pointless) pace of new frameworks and tech that's mostly due to shifting dominant players, and the naivety of most software engineers who've been unwilling or unable to organize and create some sort of protective barrier similar to every other industry (teachers or cop unions, AMA, legal bar, UAW, etc.).

And again, because this is HN, the majority of developers are not worried that they won't be making FAANG salaries with sweet equity and stock options into their 50's. They're worried that they'll be training their 25 year old replacements from Bangalore at the typical mega bank or insurance company, left with only sporadic temp gigs and 6 month contracts at half their salary and with 15 years left before Medicare kicks in.

You can do pretty well as a developer if all you know is eg Cobol or low level C.

Do keep in mind that the industry has exploded in size over the years.

I'm pushing 40 and primarily a Java developer. I'd be surprised if I can't ride this wave all the way to retirement.

Python seems to be headed this way, as well. People tend to forget that Python is almost 30 years old already. That it's held up this long, and that it's still being developed and maintained strongly suggests it will continue to be a viable language in the industry for many more years.

There is still plenty of new development going on in Java, and I hope that continues. But I'd be afraid that if Java is all you know, you're going to increasingly be stuck on critical legacy JEE / Spring apps at banks, insurance companies, etc. Right now that's okay - there's still a lot of innovation in these frameworks. But in 10-15 years, it might be the worst kind of gig left, stuck with offshored and contracting teams of the lowest bidder.

If Cobol is anything to go by, at least pay won't be much of an issue.

>Every other professional career requires you to stay up-to-date in your professional skills and knowledge to stay relevant in your field.

Is this really the case? My limited experience is that the amount of constant learning expected from a coder is an order of magnitude more than in most other fields.

I work in education - if I were to sit on my hands and use anything more than the most basic foundational research and 'best practice' from when I left my post-doc program 10 years ago, I would be unemployed. I work on professional development and skill building constantly.

That's not the exception to the rule, either. You're expected to stay current on trends in your field, and stay ahead of best practices.