I have noticed a lot of different types of discrimination in China. Sometimes it is discrimination against foreigners, but usually against fellow Chinese. There is the rural/urban divide, men vs women, Xinjiang vs the CCP, etc. But sometimes there is discrimination based on age. The most predominant is against women over 30, the so called “leftover women”, which is a very derogatory term. This time it is age discrimination in the IT industry.
After two months of recruiting for permanent and contract IT developers for a specific company, this experience has shown the psychological resilience and toughness of IT contractors. No matter the rejection and abuse they get from companies, this does not faze them. Life merely carries on. Need it be this way?
This morning I was submitting candidates to this company for interviews. The company was asking us for convenient interview times. But by noon the news turned grim: all contractor positions were filled. Anyone looking for a contract that was not already interviewed was being offered permanent positions only. The abruptness was a bit shocking to me, as it looked like there was a lack of planning.
