I suspect much of the ageism in tech comes from talented/successful people filtering out of the mainstream workforce by 40s/50s. I think a lot of very skilled people end up with the means to focus on other parts of life, or to do whatever they want in tech and not be beholden to a corporate master.
Which isn’t to say that everyone who doesn’t retire by then is bad, just that the ratio is different than 20s and 30s and this probably colors people’s view of the group. Especially with the crazy industry growth we’ve seen over the career of the average 50 year old in tech.
The idea that a lot or even a sizeable percentage of tech workers can "focus on other parts of life" or "do whatever they want" within 15-20 years of working is frankly kind of ridiculous.
The median developer salary in the US is in the neighborhood of $110k/yr and includes $0 in bonuses and $0 in stock. Outside of the San Francisco bubble simply being able to type JavaScript into a computer does not put you on a trajectory to retire decades before your peers in other industries.
Is there significant ageism in other parts of the industry though?
I thought it was typical for, say, a regional bank software department, to be staffed with a mix of ages up to retirement age, not mostly people in their 20s and early 30s.
All of the ageism concern I’ve seen discussed has been about big tech and startups. Are 48 year olds being pushed out of working at mid sized insurance companies?
Of course it's a meaningful reference point. It is the primary reference point when discussing how much someone can expect to earn in a given profession. Half the developers in the country are making less than that and it's not because they started programming in 2018, it's because 99% of developers do not get any bonus, do not get any stock, and are lucky to hit $200k total comp in their life without going into management.
If you're going to say something like 90% of the workforce is under 30 you're going to need to cite something because I just absolutely do not believe that.
Which isn’t to say that everyone who doesn’t retire by then is bad, just that the ratio is different than 20s and 30s and this probably colors people’s view of the group. Especially with the crazy industry growth we’ve seen over the career of the average 50 year old in tech.