Too old at 30: ageism in the industry

When even top posts in the Indian IT industry are often held by twenty-somethings, ‘older people’ definitely face barriers if they want to climb the corporate ladder

It is not surprising that a young industry like IT is driven by the power of youth—literally, with a majority of its workforce being in their twenties. Experience and age is respected, but sometimes it becomes a handicap. Many professionals agree that there is an unspoken age bar in the IT industry, though some experts are quick to refute the allegation. While cultural issues and ‘the right fit’ are cited as the logical explanations, the silent bias is a well-known fact in India that people seldom talk about. Many good candidates who are over-experienced (read ‘over-aged’) find that their age becomes a handicap at the recruitment stage.

"In the US it is not uncommon to hire a 35-year-old programmer, but you will rarely find any well-known company doing the same in India" - Rajaram Agrawal Managing Director TalentAhead India

In the US, the ‘date of birth’ is not mandatory on the curriculum vitae, and neither can anybody discriminate on the basis of age. But the same company which hires people in the US without asking their age has a different mindset when it comes to hiring in India. “In America, it is not uncommon to hire a 35-year-old programmer, but you will rarely find any well-known company doing the same in India,” states Rajaram Agrawal, Managing Director, TalentAhead India. By 35, if a professional does not reach the project manager level in India, it is believed that he lacks management capability. According to Agrawal, during recruitment the common age categorisation for a programmer is less than 30 years for the project leader and 40 years for the project manager. “It is not uncommon to find a 42-year-old getting rejected for the post of a project manager because the delivery head happened to be four years younger,” points out Agrawal.

This bias mostly exists at the recruitment stage and not during promotions. “It exists in all companies in some form or the other. Nobody wants to hire people above 52/53 years, apart from the CEO level. Today, it is easier to get good mid-level talent that is 35-45 years (senior project manager level) than good project leaders. The demand is however high for people of 4-12 years of experience. So if a person with 15 years of experience wants to do a project leader’s job and is very much capable, he is not considered suitable because of over-age,” informs Agrawal.

While companies talk about their hiring policies emphasising culture and ‘fitment’ factors for a candidate, the ‘over-age’ for a position is not spoken of openly, but is an implied factor. Experts agree that the so-called ‘average age’ does not necessarily present the right picture of an organisation’s hiring pattern. “Obviously, there would be more junior-level positions in an organisation, and because junior positions are occupied by younger people, the average age has to come down. If an organisation is looking for a person with 10-12 years of experience, one would be looking at a person in the 32-35 age bracket. Having said that, we believe that there might be an unwritten bias in favour of the younger candidate when there comes a choice between two equally qualified candidates,” acknowledges Dhruvakanth Shenoy, Vice-President, Marketing, Monster Asia.

Level of discrimination

Is this age bar determined by the level of hiring? Many experts would believe so. Joy Ghosh, Director, Global Marketing & International Sales, IT-People (India), feels that it mostly happens at the junior level (1st or 2nd level supervisor) where people look for fresh blood, and rarely at the level of mid-management or beyond. “At the mid-to-senior level it is not there,” he insists, adding that there should not be any age bar in the international context. Compare this with the situation in the US, where even asking about the interviewee’s age during the interview might be considered an offence.

However, others like Raju Kapoor, Principal, 3P Consultants, believe that the problem actually exists at the functional head or above level (general manager and above).

Any logical reason?

The only logical factor for rejecting an over-aged applicant is possibly the higher energy levels of a younger candidate. “But this does not mean that a person who is over 40 or 50 cannot work with the same level of energy or enthusiasm,” reasons Agrawal, adding that since it is not always easy to find the true value of a candidate (through detailed background and reference checks, for example), factors like age are taken into consideration.

But the most important reason, according to Shenoy, is ‘cultural and team fit.’ It is proven that if an employee does not ‘belong’ to the culture, he/she cannot perform to his/her best potential. “A sensible HR professional will not lose a good candidate if the latter meets all the requirements of the job—including team fit. If the candidate does not pass this test, by HR standards, he/she is not a ‘deserving’ candidate.”

Younger professionals are more sought after even though they also cost more than their average peers. “Employers want to hire professionals who have reached their career benchmarks the fastest. There are few of these people around, hence there is greater demand for them as compared to the more-available ‘over-aged’ professionals,” states Kapoor. “If all other qualifications are the same, a younger person will be ranked higher on energy levels. In some cases we have seen that higher-age professionals have also been hired, but these are exceptions who have shown high energy levels and an open mind.”

Mindset change

"Senior professionals should bring along with them the kind of experience and value that is expected for the position" - N Muralidharan Managing Director & Vice-President JobStreet.com India

What is needed is a change in the mindset of the top management in most companies. Agrawal believes that the trend has to be set by the big organisations as the smaller companies have no choice but to hire people irrespective of their age. There have to be changes in policies related to hiring. Since the recruiting manager or agent has little say in policy matters, the initiative has to be taken by the senior management. In future the situation is bound to change because it still happens to be a growing market. “Organisations should become open to the same. Also, candidates should equip themselves with the latest trends in the market and understand the scope of the industry to find where they could fit in,” says Nirupama VG, Associate Director, Teamlease Services.

Kapoor is however less optimistic about any possibilities of mindset change. “I don’t think the IT industry will emerge from this mindset because the demands of the service industry force them to think and act the way they are doing.”

No disqualification

There are a few who do believe that age is no disqualification. “Senior professionals have a definite role and place in any organisation. They should bring along with them the kind of experience and value that is expected for the position. If it’s a person with 20+ years of experience, it should not be experience of one kind over 20 years, but something like 20 years of variety of experience and exposure,” says N Muralidharan, Managing Director and Vice-President, JobStreet.com India.

Muralidharan asserts that age as such will not be a factor if the person concerned brings along a lot of energy and ‘hunger’ for the job. “It is generally noticed that over a period people might just not have these in abundance. Also, the openness to learn is important. The technology field is one where learning never ever stops. Also important is the ability and openness to unlearn.”