I'm starting a new software consultancy that's hiring 40+ coders exclusively, at below market value, then leases them back to the companies that just got rid of them. The only difference is that I hide them away somewhere, call it "untapped talent" or something that doesn't give away the age and show up at meetings instead of them, with my 26 years and sneakers and a hoodie. Call it job market arbitrage.
if a 40+ developer (who ships product and gets things done rather than a "coder" as you refer to them), works for less than market rate, there is a reason, and usually not a good one. This is not something to base a company on.
Most of us are working at well above market rates, not in Silicon Vally (there is serious software in the energy, medical, financial, etc... field being written elsewhere) and are not in the job market.
> if a 40+ developer (who ships product and gets things done rather than a "coder" as you refer to them), works for less than market rate, there is a reason, and usually not a good one.
I'm only 36, but my personal experience would bias me to assume it is because the companies that would pay market rate aren't willing to even talk to them. It's hella illegal, but I would not be surprised if a company basing their product on technologies that are only 3 - 4 years old is silently, perhaps even unconsciously, ignoring resumes from people with 15+ years of work experience, even if they have the experience in those recent technologies.
But something doesn't add up here, does it?