AWS sued by product manager who says she was laid off for being an older woman A former senior product manager at Amazon Web Services has sued the cloud colossus in the US, claiming she faced retaliation from bosses and was ultimately laid off due to her gender and age. The complaint [PDF], filed this week in federal court in San Francisco, on behalf of plaintiff Joanne Stockwell, alleges the …
I briefly met Admiral Hopper when she gave a talk to a group of staff at Digital. She arrived in full uniform and was as sharp as a tack.
Indeed, it was the by-then-flagging company that wanted to associate itself with her renown. But she delivered, even though she had the upper hand in the relationship.
The words closed to new ideas and hesitant to accept suggestions due to her years of experience do rather reek of the frustration of a thrusting young know-it-all having his idiotic ideas turned down by someone who genuinely does know better. As you get older you become less inclined to suffer fools - whether gladly or otherwise - so I suppose age and experience combined make for the ultimate threat to the "Big Balls" faction of the workforce.
From personal experience after 30+ years at a very famous UK university, now in dire financial trouble ... it does get very wearing seeing new kids come up with ideas with have been considered, occasionally tried and soundly rejected many time before. It's a gulf of comprehension: "We tried that in 1997 and it failed" sounds to the old lags like "Let's not do it again" and to the young turks as "Time to try it again."
It's the same in the charity sector! I and another colleague (both of us have been there many years) like to speculate which of the various "good ideas" will be tried again by the latest new recruits.
We are now pretty good at predicting this, as the "good ideas" seem to come back round in a fairly predictable cycle, and they prove to be failures each time too! We've pretty much given up saying "tried that five times now, and it doesn't work". Each new lot of recruits is convinced it'll work this time round...
Both of you have nailed the problem. Move fast and break things was never a sound long term solution to anything. The smart strategist always beats the bully in the end.
Far too many people mistake caution for fear, and have not the slightest inkling of what the word discretion means.
That said, moribund is also slow death. Many once great minds and companies have died as a result of being unable to adapt.
As with all things, there is always a balance.
I can relate to this ageist attitude in the workplace , 5 years ago I sent my CV out to about 30 odd jobs , rejected by most and no reply from the rest. I made my CV age agnostic took off the dates of my degrees etc and went back 15 years instead of 30. I got almost 100% success rate and got 2-3 interviews power day for nearly 2 weeks.
Today, I'm only 56 and had 5 interviews in the last month and aced the interviews tech tests , some 100% spot on. All came back with a no but also "we can't say why". It's pretty easy to get my year off birth from my contracting years from hmrc gov website.
I don't do sick , only had about 1 week in the last 30odd years , I'm still learning and not stopping and still keen and still care about my work. They're relying on old age ignorant stereotypical generalisations. What's interesting is there are people who work there who are over this age but they're allowed to carry on.
I wrote back to one making the above comment about this going full circle and coming back to the people doing it.
It's another one of those "ssshhh we don't like to talk about it but we do do it"
I do like the large companies who have diversity and inclusion questionnaires. I call it diversity and exclusion survey, I put my date of birth on it a few times and got rejected the next day. I don't bother anymore.
Anyway good luck to her suing AWS , she might get a win but it won't change the rules , they will just carry on doing the same as before.
It's not age, but also the fact that is really is hard to get a good job these days.
I have above average credentials. But not stellar or superstar level and probably never will. For the last ten years it has taken a minimum of 100 applications to land a job each time I gone looking.
I'm in a small city that's not exactly overflowing with IT\Tech roles, a case of dead man shoes when a vacancy opens up, with few inclined to transition out of their current safe roles.
That said my role is classed as senior (Alas not in pay) & they didn't want cheap, new & wet behind the ears due to the amount of legacy stuff they needed supported & ironically I was the first permanent IT staff member they had had in 30 years of operations. Looking ten years younger than I am helps with a suitably redressed resume, most people are surprised I'm actually in my 60's.
It took me about 2.5 years to get it following redundancy.
He's a USMC veteran that spent his four year term, including his deployment to Iraq, in non-combat roles with the Aviation wing as a journalist.
I appreciate your sentiment, but there are former serving US marines that are more worthy of your sentiments, those that have given their entire careers to the Corps and have multiple tours in very shitty places under their belts.
You do NOT know who I am ... BUT ... think you do !!!
On the other hand, I KNOW who you are thanks to your so erudite reply.
Strangely enough this does not change my opinion of Vance !!!
I have the right to my opinion partially because of 'brave people in uniform who saw REAL Combat against EVIL', and I thankfully use that right.
I also, just like Trump, have the right to choose which 'men in uniform' I respect and which I do not !!!
Trump chose not to respect 'McCain' (who had actual combat experience unlike Trump who evaded Military Service).
I chose not to repect Vance (who was a 'Journalist' in the Marines according to Wikipedia)
FYI:
From USA Today !!!
What is JD Vance's military record?
Vance served in the Marine Corps for four years, from 2003-2007, and was a public affairs officer during a six-month stint in Iraq but never saw combat.
:)
Older workers aren't less effective but they don't fit the mould of ideal employee. An ideal employee is someone that does the job but also needs the job. When an employee needs the job they are at maximum flexibility. You want them to work late for no extra pay, sure no problem. You want them to turn a blind eye to dubious practises, just say the word. You also want these things done without any questions asked. An older employee has been round the block and seen it all before, generally in tech at this stage it's not just about the money. Then you have what I call younger manager syndrome. This is where a younger ambitious managers manage older employees. It's difficult for them to get their head round someone older being under them. They have this idea they will always be advancing as they age, It's unsettling for them. It's doubly unsettling when the older employee corrects them and helps them avoid mistakes with their experience and knowledge. Not all but in my experience there are a few like that. Companies just want a job done and people they can use. The easiest option for that is younger employees. Sad but true.
When you are desperate you do what you are told. That is a shit situation to find yourself in. Join a union.
"Companies just want a job done and people they can use."
You're half right. Companies want the job done. Shit managers want people they can "use". A good manager knows that he can trust an experienced employee and they will take responsibility for delivering.
I'm a huge fan of unions. Every workplace should have them just for the backup should you need it and the legal advice and support they supply. They can also negotiate on your behalf when it comes to wage increases/changes or policy changes that might be negative to the workers.
What a union can't do is change your personal situation. They can't make you need the job less. They can't stop you choosing to do things of your own accord. They can help if you get dismissed unfairly but you may be in a situation where you can't afford that fight. If there is a union companies are extra careful with dismissals because they know they won't get away with it.
Having a union can only help so much.
AWS is far from being an outlier in this and younger readers should well take note. I’ve personally had this happen going back over the last 20+ years 3(!) times and now at age 65 I decided enough was way past enough! Age is NO DETERMINING factor to intelligence, creativity, and being able to find what’s needed yet industry continues with reckless abandon to pull this crap!
Fuck em, I’m mostly glad to no longer being hit with this shit so until older workers rise up and say they’re sick as hell of this shit it will continue.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
