Works both ways (Score 5, Interesting)

Being remote can also help young employees, especially when you don't use video. Also, virtual companies are not new. When some friends and I started an IT security consulting company, circa 1995, we were in three different states, connected by phone calls and email. When we needed to add some specific technical skills to our small team of 40-somethings, a friend, in another state, gave us a name. Phone calls were made to the named person. He sounded solid. We gave him an assignment - fly there, meet client, do what they need done, report back. He executed flawlessly. We took on more work. It went well. He became a full partner. About eighteen months into this I met David in person for the first time and was slightly stunned. He was so young he couldn't rent a car when he flew to meet with clients (without a special bond or something, which one of the other partners had arranged). Remember, we had only spoken. No video calls. No Facebook or Skype. I'm not saying things would have worked out differently if our initial meetings had been in person instead of over the phone. But I am self-aware enough to know that I can't guarantee that I would have treated David as an equal if I had known or thought about his age. Our partnership went on to produce very healthy returns - two successful startups, a lot of fun times and lasting friendships. In short, I learned that age discrimination is bad for business, regardless of how young or old you are.