America’s high-tech industry is justifiably vaunted on a number of fronts. Tech startups fuel futuristic ideas that promote job growth and produce new products and services of great utility. Tech companies attract competition, which naturally propels development forward in next-step progression. High-tech enterprises lure bright minds and top talent. The list of upsides goes on.
Notably, though, there is also a reported downside. As one article on the tech industry notes, the realm “also has received negative publicity for discriminatory practices.”
Those practices can be both multiple and varied. Prospective employees from certain schools say that they have problems entering the industry. Female workers cite a glass ceiling that prominently militates against material job promotion.
And then there is age discrimination, which is reportedly an industry scourge of sizable dimensions. The high-tech sphere is routinely perceived as a young person’s realm, and comparatively older workers can literally pay a heavy price for that perception.
Officials in Michigan might reasonably want to pay close attention to that. The state has been spotlighted for its clout as a research/development center, and age-linked job discrimination could have outsized effects.
Such discrimination of course violates federal law. Moreover, and as noted in the above-cited article, “it also violates various state laws in Michigan,” including the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
Experienced workers make singular and valuable workplace contributions that warrant strong legal protections. Questions or concerns regarding age discrimination in the tech realm or any other industry can be directed to a proven legal team of employment law attorneys.