Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers from Job Ads

[Megalith]

Verizon is among dozens of the nation's leading employers found running recruitment ads limited to particular age groups on Facebook. Using the system to expose job opportunities only to certain age groups has raised concerns about fairness to older workers.

“It’s blatantly unlawful,” said Debra Katz, a Washington employment lawyer who represents victims of discrimination. Facebook defended the practice. “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,” said Rob Goldman, a Facebook vice president.

 

[Jim Kim]

target your preferred demographic

 

[timberwolf]

As an older worker, I can say that I want nothing to do with a company that posts recruitment ads on Facebook (or Twitter etc.).

 

[Cantroy]

And it IS blatantly unlawful.... but then so is so much these corporations are doing nowadays, until they can get big enough to change the law itself, which a lot of them are already doing... I guess what I'm saying is that just because it may be lawful over time, that doesn't make it RIGHT.

 

[Deleted member 93354]

Age is a protected class. Welcome to Federal Smackdown Verizon. Well done.

 

[katanaD]

so.. a company is looking to hire people with little to no knowledge and experience.. oh boy.. can I apply??

cause cold calling for sales or packing boxes is soo much fun and i miss it terribly since i last did that.. 20-30 years ago

 

[Burticus]

The day I have to use Facebook to search for a job will be a sad day indeed. Hell I can barely tolerate the amount of spam I get from LinkedIn, and I ignore 90% of it

 

[Deleted member 93354]

so.. a company is looking to hire people with little to no knowledge and experience.. oh boy.. can I apply??

cause cold calling for sales or packing boxes is soo much fun and i miss it terribly since i last did that.. 20-30 years ago

Last I checked, the average family income in the USA is a little over $55K/year. That's largely unskilled labor. A salesjob at a desk might be a step up for a 40 year old who's body is starting to ache from working in a warehouse, or working on a cleaning crew.

 

[dgingeri]

Some employer just don't understand how much better older workers can be. They have experience and background knowledge that younger workers just don't have. The problem they usually have with older worker is that we know how some companies exploit people and pay them far less than what their work is worth. They're able to screw over younger workers easier. Younger workers are also less likely to do anything about unethical behavior on the part of the company.

I'd rather not work for those employers anyway. I'd rather work for companies that are ethically run and treat their employees properly.

 

[Dekoth-E-]

Oh Ageism is a thing and it certainly exists as I have found out in the past few years. My skills have only deepened, but while I had more job opportunities than I knew what to do with just 5 years ago as I approach 40 I find more and more submitted resume's never result in a call back.

 

[BSmith]

Meh. Age descrimination happens all over the place, especially in the tech sector.

Want to test it? Submit two identical resumes for the same position to any given tech company. One of the resumes has a different email address, phone number, and a variation of hte last name, and (the big one) a different graduation date from college.

I did that once, out of frustration. The resume with the younger date was what the HR person referred to. I responded with an apology about the error. The response was to correct the error and re-submit the resume. I told him I had already done that. Response, "Oh, must not have come to the top of the queue yet." Never heard another word from them and could not get a phone call passed the operator.

I did that with three different companies. Same thing happened. Sure, they have grounds to bounce me due to the intentional error and that is the only reason I did not lawyer up. I just did it to prove age matters more than experience.

 

[viper1152012]

Ageism plain and simple

 

[NeoNemesis]

so.. a company is looking to hire people with little to no knowledge and experience.. oh boy.. can I apply??

cause cold calling for sales or packing boxes is soo much fun and i miss it terribly since i last did that.. 20-30 years ago

They don't have to hire them, they DO have to give them the opportunity to apply.

 

[nutzo]

Meh. Age descrimination happens all over the place, especially in the tech sector.

Want to test it? Submit two identical resumes for the same position to any given tech company. One of the resumes has a different email address, phone number, and a variation of hte last name, and (the big one) a different graduation date from college.

Remove the dates from your resume.
Remove the older jobs that are no longer relevant, and any other information that would indicate how old you are.

If you still have hair, make sure you get rid of most the grey before the interview.
If they ask your age, warn the interviewer that that is not a legal question.

After you get the job & you get past the initial 90 period, let you hair go grey again. Just blame it on how hard you are working

 

[katanaD]

They don't have to hire them, they DO have to give them the opportunity to apply.

from reading the article, I saw no mention of anyone being denied the opportunity to apply. they were just targeting their ads, just like any advertiser does to reach their target market. if you were to stumble upon their ad in some manner, you could apply.


and as an IT guy hitting 50 soon, I very much know about age discrimination. does it suck, you bet, but then again, WHY would i want to work for a place that clearly would not want to hire me??

 

[Deleted member 93354]

Remove the dates from your resume.
Remove the older jobs that are no longer relevant, and any other information that would indicate how old you are.

If you still have hair, make sure you get rid of most the grey before the interview.
If they ask your age, warn the interviewer that that is not a legal question.

After you get the job & you get past the initial 90 period, let you hair go grey again. Just blame it on how hard you are working

HR departments are super paranoid about lawsuits now. I remember once we brought in a female candidate for an interview. She was more than aptly qualified. However with all good candidates, we take them out to lunch so they get to know us. I started discussing how my wife is looking forward to our first kid. Then she replied about how she was expecting.

I told our HR lady and she nearly shit a brick. Even though I didn't ask her about expecting children, it became grounds for her to sue if we turned her down. "They aren't hiring me because I'm pregnant" Luckily this applicant was superb in all expects.

So IF an interviewer ask a protected class of information, you can expect to get the job even if you aren't qualified, because it's lawsuit territory. It's even against the law to mine a person's facebook profile unless it's a matter of establishing security clearance.

There's a whole class of people who apply for jobs they have no intent of working for. They go on interviews just so they can "settle" out of court for discrimination.

 

[iamjanco]

Meh, for me it's mostly a matter of perspective.

For instance, with respect to the sociological, I tend to think of social media sites like Facebook as more akin to Assbooks of sorts, because that's what most people are kissing engaging in them (in spite of the prevalence of npd or not). That said, as a web developer myself, I also don't preclude the notion that a number of them are pretty much necessary evils today, means to many ends if you will, especially from a number of business-related perspectives (e.g, marketing and sales). For $50 bucks in fees, I can target a market in most areas, regardless of whether I'm selling services or vacuum equipped sensory devices designed to be used with holographic blow up dolls (or perhaps both).

 

[B00nie]

Any company that recruits through facebook is a company not worth existing.

 

[BSmith]

Remove the dates from your resume.
Remove the older jobs that are no longer relevant, and any other information that would indicate how old you are.

If you still have hair, make sure you get rid of most the grey before the interview.
If they ask your age, warn the interviewer that that is not a legal question.

After you get the job & you get past the initial 90 period, let you hair go grey again. Just blame it on how hard you are working

That works, until you have to fill out an application where they explicitly ask for the year of graduation so they can verify your education. Well, that is what they tell you. Refues to fill it out and you will not get a call back. Been there, done that, while yelling "You damn kids get off my lawn!".

 

[steakman1971]

HR departments are super paranoid about lawsuits now. I remember once we brought in a female candidate for an interview. She was more than aptly qualified. However with all good candidates, we take them out to lunch so they get to know us. I started discussing how my wife is looking forward to our first kid. Then she replied about how she was expecting.

I told our HR lady and she nearly shit a brick. Even though I didn't ask her about expecting children, it became grounds for her to sue if we turned her down. "They aren't hiring me because I'm pregnant" Luckily this applicant was superb in all expects.

So IF an interviewer ask a protected class of information, you can expect to get the job even if you aren't qualified, because it's lawsuit territory. It's even against the law to mine a person's facebook profile unless it's a matter of establishing security clearance.

There's a whole class of people who apply for jobs they have no intent of working for. They go on interviews just so they can "settle" out of court for discrimination.

We had the same thing happen - a candidate revealed she was pregnant. We didn't ask her - our HR freaked out and more-or-less said we had to hire her or we could get sued. This candidate was good so it really wasn't a problem. I wonder if it was intentional about telling us. I suspect but who knows. Water under the bridge now.

 

[Simmonz]

make your pictures private, don't put a DOB on Facebook, etc. I'm not saying this shit is good but there are ways to minimize it's effect on you.

 

[steakman1971]

Ageism is definitely real. When you are being interviewed by people half your age, I think bias is built-in. Startups seem to be the worse - they want to hire "buds" that will work crazy hours and party with them. I don't like to hang out with my coworkers - I like to go home. I'll work some crazy hours, but not like I did when I was in my 20's and 30's. I was single back then. I have a family now.
Reflecting back, most of the crazy hours were just from poor planning on the project owners. They wanted the impossible (and they often got it at our expense) You might get free pizza and possibly a bonus. However, I learned never to divide the extra hours you worked into the bonus. It was a depressing number (but still better than nothing.)

 

[Deleted member 93354]

from reading the article, I saw no mention of anyone being denied the opportunity to apply. they were just targeting their ads, just like any advertiser does to reach their target market. if you were to stumble upon their ad in some manner, you could apply.


and as an IT guy hitting 50 soon, I very much know about age discrimination. does it suck, you bet, but then again, WHY would i want to work for a place that clearly would not want to hire me??

Because you can get in there bust your butt and prove them wrong.

I'm going to work my ass off because I have a family to support and I have to justify my pay. Despite all the time you see me posting on here, I go way beyond my 40 hours a week of actual work. I even work when sick because having a flu doesn't stop my typing skills.

 

[dgingeri]

Oh Ageism is a thing and it certainly exists as I have found out in the past few years. My skills have only deepened, but while I had more job opportunities than I knew what to do with just 5 years ago as I approach 40 I find more and more submitted resume's never result in a call back.

I know, right? They want these kids that are all about the next big thing, which they say saves them money, but they don't consider the downsides of these new trends and how it affects the business. Older, more experienced techs and admins know better on what tactics and tools to use on different circumstances, because we've had more experience dealing with them. It saves companies in the long run, but there are far too many managers who just don't realize that.

 

[Burticus]

... we take them out to lunch so they get to know us...

Ugh, hell no. I have to be dressed up in a good suit, be "ON" about everything, and try to remain calm and not to sweat my brains out during the interview (when I get stressed out I sweat like a pig in heat). And then I'd have to go with them to watch me EAT? Nope. I'd say I had another appointment and politely decline the meal.

But I'm technical, so the early stage interviews are almost always on the phone anyway.

 

[Dekoth-E-]

Ugh, hell no. I have to be dressed up in a good suit, be "ON" about everything, and try to remain calm and not to sweat my brains out during the interview (when I get stressed out I sweat like a pig in heat). And then I'd have to go with them to watch me EAT? Nope. I'd say I had another appointment and politely decline the meal.

But I'm technical, so the early stage interviews are almost always on the phone anyway.

You take interviews way too seriously unless you are an executive.

 

[Outlaw85]

I'm part of the millennial generation but didn't realize there were that many people (young and old) searching for jobs through ads... on facebook. On that note- I've been at my job 11yrs now and consider myself lucky to like my job just enough to not have to seriously look for an alternative.

 

[Nytegard]

I'm part of the millennial generation but didn't realize there were that many people (young and old) searching for jobs through ads... on facebook. On that note- I've been at my job 11yrs now and consider myself lucky to like my job just enough to not have to seriously look for an alternative.

Nowadays, things have changed. I kid you not, when I went to interview at Facebook, one of the interviewers literally said "I see you've been working at (my company) for over 5 years. That's an awfully long time to stay at a company. Why have you been there so long?"

Maybe this explains why tech interviews constantly question you about techniques you learn in college that have no real world applications (as libraries already exist to handle such things).

 

[Semantics]

Hey it's only unlawful if they apply, if they never know about it then it's okay

 

[thecold]

Nowadays, things have changed. I kid you not, when I went to interview at Facebook, one of the interviewers literally said "I see you've been working at (my company) for over 5 years. That's an awfully long time to stay at a company. Why have you been there so long?"

Maybe this explains why tech interviews constantly question you about techniques you learn in college that have no real world applications (as libraries already exist to handle such things).

That's messed up. That's not hostile or anything...

 

[Semantics]

Nowadays, things have changed. I kid you not, when I went to interview at Facebook, one of the interviewers literally said "I see you've been working at (my company) for over 5 years. That's an awfully long time to stay at a company. Why have you been there so long?"

Maybe this explains why tech interviews constantly question you about techniques you learn in college that have no real world applications (as libraries already exist to handle such things).

That's the norm, people change jobs every 3-5 years now. You pretty much don't expect good pay increases unless you change jobs. Basically most jobs aren't paying as well as they used to so people are leveraging the one thing they have, quitting and moving on. Hell i remember working at a large company that basically said you don't get real raises, you want a raise move up the corporate ladder. Did that for a bit saw how dysfunctional that shit was and bailed.

 

[Outlaw85]

That's the norm, people change jobs every 3-5 years now. You pretty much don't expect good pay increases unless you change jobs. Basically most jobs aren't paying as well as they used to so people are leveraging the one thing they have, quitting and moving on. Hell i remember working at a large company that basically said you don't get real raises, you want a raise move up the corporate ladder. Did that for a bit saw how dysfunctional that shit was and bailed.

I definitely see that working with the newbies on teams at work, including our own and vendors.. They are all in that range you said and most a little younger than me. As for the having to move up the plumbus (just came from that thread ) ladder, absolutely true. I'm no 'yes man' and i know it hurts me. We do get "regular" raises with a bonus depending how the company did over the past year so at least there is that.

Corp world right here. really just the few seconds after you click start lol