It's misrepresented because working hard doesn't get you paid more, hence false statistics.Talent doesn't get hired, diversity quotas and immigration is a big problem.

I agree there are diversity and immigration incentives which get in the way of pure talent.

With regards to immigrant hires, companies do it because they save money hiring third worlders who have lower standards and are more desperate (so its strategical, though I still disagree with it).

Diversity quotas aren’t strategical, theres no benefit in hiring a black woman in itself.

However, I was strictly talking about employer discrimination with regards to age, and why they do it. I think diversity quotas apply more to race and gender, but I haven’t seen it applied to age as much, so I think my initial point still holds.



 

How about giving windshield repair a try, if you have skilled hands? It looks affordable to get started in, and it's a commonly needed service. Ultra Bond takes it to the next level by claiming to repair long cracks, while most other businesses just repair small chips. I don't know how involved the liability side of things is, but the cost to attempt a repair leaves room to offer no charge if you completely fail to succeed. You can practice on junkyard cars. Learn to make cracks with a chip and heat cycles, then practice fixing them.
Customers could come to you, or charge $30 or so extra to go to them. Just be aware that the crack must not have been rained on for a good while, and it needs to be well shaded, so UV from sunlight doesn't activate the glue.

https://www.ultrabond.com/

I updated my "update" post a bit, so much that I'd like to repost it here:

https://www.cathinfo.com/computers-and-technology/update-on-my-job-situation/msg1011620/#msg1011620

Basically there have been no changes. Still applying to jobs, but not getting call-backs or interviews. It seems there aren't a lot of jobs out there in my career right now, and the market is extremely over-saturated with unemployed software developers.

Here's the problem: I'm not a software developer having employment issues 1, 3, or 5 years into my career. I'm not in my 20's or 30's. I'll be FIFTY at the end of this year. That makes getting into whole new careers somewhat difficult.

It's tempting to suggest "aim lower; get some low end job" but don't you think the managers are smarter than that? You don't think they'll suspect that I'll quit within weeks if I can ever find a software development job again? Even if I didn't keep looking for (real a.k.a. software dev) work, THEY would assume I'm going to do that.

My health is good (for now) and I get 15K steps a day, I have a Samsung smartwatch to track my steps, body fat % etc.  My weight is the lowest it's been since before 2006.
But make no mistake: I'm not in my 20's anymore. You can't beat Father Time.

Many "trade" jobs require actual knowledge how to do those jobs, if not actual schooling and/or certification. And a man pushing 50 isn't exactly considered an ideal "apprentice".
And if we're talking about switching to some trade, where would I begin to choose one? I haven't had to consider "what am I going to be when I grow up" for about 35 years. All the options seem equally crazy to me, to be honest.

Another point: many manual labor or "hard" jobs cause guys around 40 to get depressed, because they see their body isn't what it used to be, and they aren't going to be able to push their body to do "hard work" jobs much longer, like they've done all their lives up till now. It's a common pattern. Guys without a skill, who used their health and strength to make a living, naturally freak out when that health and strength begin to fade (again, this starts to get noticed around age 40).

So wouldn't it be bizarre as heck for me to START such work at close to 50? How long could I expect to keep that up, anyhow? I'm feeling great now, but for how many years? Years have a way of piling up and flowing by very fast. At least at my age.

Again, to get philosophical, in your 50's you should have decades of experience, your competence should be unquestioned, and your "relevance" in that career should be near-assured. You should have an impressive resume showing what you've done with your life (in that career) for the past 30 years, and you should be in an upper or management position. You should be on the "easy" if not "coasting along" part of your career. You put in your time and energy when you were younger, you learned your craft, and now you have vast knowledge and experience to show for it. Now is the time to reap the benefits.

I feel like I've had that stolen from me, by the insanity of the software development industry and the modern, globalist, unbridled Capitalist economic system.

One last point: one might say, "the software dev bubble has burst". But I have a problem with that. First of all, a "bubble" suggests a crazy high, like you had to do little to no work but made tons of money. When you are in that kind of "cushy" job, any smart man knows your days are numbered. You can't expect to do little or easy work, and get paid well. At least not forever. Again, wise men know that "something's gotta give" eventually. Sanity eventually returns after every mania or bubble.

But in my career, I was doing actual work. I studied, I built, I engineered systems, I connected things together, I built websites, backends, databases; I tracked down and fixed countless problems, I helped my employers make a lot of money -- in short, REAL WORK. It was hard, mental work. And I wasn't getting paid insane money -- just a decent wage to live on. Never more than $80K a year. So no, that was never a bubble. Which is why I'm shocked that even that economically sane arrangement couldn't last, as it were.