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Passed Over for a 25-Year-Old? DON'T fall for this corporate trap. image

Passed Over for a 25-Year-Old? DON'T fall for this corporate trap.

E12 · Ageism Survival Guide
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12 Plays21 days ago

Have you ever been passed over for a promotion, only to be asked to train the 25-year-old who got YOUR job?

The audacity of corporate age discrimination is stunning, but it happens every single day to highly experienced professionals over 50. In this video, we are breaking down a viral TikTok and a shocking story from Katie Couric Media about a 59-year-old woman, Jennifer Schroeder, who said "Just no" when her company demanded she become a free training program for her cheaper, less-experienced replacement.

If you are dealing with age bias in the workplace, being forced out of your role, or facing corporate retaliation or workplace revenge because you refused to play their game, this video is your rallying cry. We discuss exactly what happened to Jennifer, how her company tried to gaslight and retaliate against her with PIPs and isolation, and most importantly, how she fought back. By documenting everything and knowing her rights, she negotiated a massive six-month severance package instead of the insulting two weeks they initially offered.

You do not owe your employer the keys to your own replacement. Stop giving away your decades of institutional knowledge for free. Youth runs fast, but age knows the terrain. It’s time to take a stand, document your interactions, and protect your career from employers who view your experience as a liability rather than an asset.

The Ageism Survival Guide provides you with career tips to safeguard your over 50 career.

👇 JOIN THE SURVIVAL GUIDE COMMUNITY 👇 Don't fight workplace ageism alone. Join our private Discord server to connect with other professionals over 50 sharing survival tactics, attorney recommendations, and career support: https://discord.gg/rrdaq48xJ ⏱️

CHAPTERS & TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Passed over for a 25-year-old (The Audacity) 1:45 - The Katie Couric Article: What Happened 3:45 - "I am not your free training program" 5:45 - The Corporate Retaliation Playbook 8:00 - 3 Ways to Fight Back (The Rallying Cry) 10:00 - Join the Ageism Survival Guide Community

🔗 RESOURCES & REFERENCES FROM THIS VIDEO

• Read the Katie Couric Media Article: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/one-woman-fought-back-against-212535521.html

• Watch the Original Viral TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theunobsolete/video/7604979959106391327

• The Data on Age Bias: AARP's Age Discrimination Research & Statistics at https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/work-finances-retirement/employers-workforce/age-discrimination-workplace/

📌 ABOUT AGEISM SURVIVAL GUIDE Ageism and age bias are pervasive in society and the corporate world. It's time to take a stand and take back control of our own lives from those that wish to exclude us. This channel is dedicated to bringing ageism to light, withstanding its effects, recovering from job loss, and optimizing your job search strategies over 50. Whether we are talking about LinkedIn profile optimization for older workers, removing graduation dates to age-proof your resume, or fighting back against wrongful termination, we are here to help you survive and thrive.

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss a strategy!​

#katiecouric #jenniferschroeder #ageism #agebias #over50 #over60

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Transcript

Frustration and Age Bias at Work

00:00:00
Speaker
I watched 25-year-old get my promotion, and then they asked me to train her. Here's what I said. No, not sorry, not maybe later, not let me check my schedule. Just know, I am not your free training program. I am not here to make your cheap labor look competent. enough The audacity. It's stunning, isn't it?
00:00:19
Speaker
You know that moment when your company looks you in the eye and says, we're not going to promote you, but we'd love for you to train the 25-year-old who's taking the exact job that you wanted?
00:00:33
Speaker
Yeah, that's what we're talking about today. because That's exactly what happened to a 59-year-old woman in a recent story covered by Katie Couric Media.
00:00:44
Speaker
And it's the exact same gut punch you just heard in that viral TikTok. Today, we're going to talk about something that happened, how she reacted, how the company retaliated, and exactly what you need to do if they ever try this cheap trick on you.
00:01:04
Speaker
Let's get into it.

Introduction to Ageism Survival Guide

00:01:10
Speaker
Welcome back to the Ageism Survival Guide. On this channel, we talk about real stories of age bias in the workplace, how to protect yourself, and how to keep control of your career after 50.
00:01:26
Speaker
Because as we always say around here, youth runs fast, but age knows the terrain. And in this video, we're going to look at a story that could easily be your story.
00:01:38
Speaker
A 59-year-old woman, decades of experience, passed over for a promotion and then asked to train the 25-year-old who took the role. This isn't just unfair. It's a calculated corporate cost-cutting move that depends entirely on you staying quiet and being a team player.
00:02:01
Speaker
Let's start with the facts.

Jennifer's Story of Being Overlooked

00:02:04
Speaker
In the Katie Couric Media article, Meet Jennifer Schroeder. She's 59 years old, just like me. She knows the systems, she knows the people, she knows the history, she knows the terrain.
00:02:19
Speaker
A promotion opportunity comes up. She has the experience and the performance record. So what what does the company do? They give the promotion to a 25-year-old with a graduate degree and almost no real-world experience in that job.
00:02:37
Speaker
that's That's just insult number one. But then comes insult number two. Management comes to Jennifer and essentially says, hey, we need you to train her.
00:02:48
Speaker
Show her how everything works. Look, let's be very clear about what they're saying to her. They're saying, we don't value you enough to promote you. We don't value you enough to pay you more, but we'd absolutely need your skills and your years of experience to make our poorly thought out decision work.
00:03:13
Speaker
They want to download decades of your experience into someone who's cheaper. And they want to do it for free. And and this is not just a one-off story.
00:03:26
Speaker
AARP reports that 64% over 50 say they've seen or experienced age bias. 64%. It's not an accident.
00:03:36
Speaker
It's a corporate strategy.

Corporate Strategy: Training Cheaper Replacements

00:03:40
Speaker
You want me to train my replacement? Pay me. You want my 25 years of knowledge? Pay me. Consulting rates? Triple my salary.
00:03:48
Speaker
You want me to smile while you're humiliating me? Wrong person. If you saw that TikTok, you heard the creator's reaction. Absolutely not.
00:03:59
Speaker
If you want me to train my replacement, you can pay me consulting rates. And then also the part about I'm not your free training program. That line is everything. And it's the backbone of what Jennifer from the Couric article ends up doing.
00:04:16
Speaker
Jennifer didn't just roll over. When the writing appeared on the wall, she got smart. First, she stopped assuming good attentions.
00:04:27
Speaker
Once you've been denied a promotion and asked to train the person who got it, you're not imagining things. This is a threat. Second, she documented everything, every conversation with her manager, every request to share knowledge. If she had a meeting, she followed it up with an email on, you know, per our conversation today, you asked me to do x y z she built an ironclad paper trail.
00:05:00
Speaker
Third, she immediately sought out an employment attorney. She needed to know exactly her degree of leverage. She refused to make herself quietly obsolete by handing over her institutional knowledge.
00:05:14
Speaker
She looked shocked. My manager looked curious and HR sent me an email about being a team player. Now, what happens when you stop being nice and refuse to play their game?

Legal Protection and Retaliation

00:05:28
Speaker
The company tries to flip the script. According to the article, once Jennifer started setting boundaries, suddenly she wasn't a valued employee anymore. Suddenly she had an attitude problem.
00:05:42
Speaker
She was resistant to change. The classic retaliation playbook kicked in She got excluded from meetings, important projects were reassigned, and then came the dreaded performance nitpicking. You know you know how that is, right? Minor issues are just blown out of proportion to create a a false narrative of incompetence. And when they finally made their move to push her out,
00:06:10
Speaker
What did they do? They offered her a paltry two-week severance package. Two weeks! After years of service. That's the corporate version of, hey, thank you for your decades of loyalty.
00:06:23
Speaker
Here's some bus fare. But Here's where Jennifer won. Because she had documented everything. And because she had an attorney, she had leverage.
00:06:35
Speaker
She negotiated that insulting two-week offer into a six-month severance package. That difference is a exactly the value of having the receipts and refusing to be bullied.

Valuing Expertise and Negotiation Advice

00:06:49
Speaker
Here's what I learned. The second you stop being useful, they stop pretending to care. So stop pretending you owe them anything. Let's get something straight right now.
00:07:02
Speaker
The second that you stop being useful, they stop pretending to care. So you need to stop pretending that you owe them your expertise for free.
00:07:13
Speaker
You do not owe your employer the keys to your own replacement. You're not obligated to make yourself or your job disappear.
00:07:25
Speaker
if If you find yourself in this situation, Here are three things that you can do. Number one, never agree to train your replacement without a a massive compensation bump.
00:07:37
Speaker
If they want your decades of knowledge, that's billable consulting time. Number two, reject that team player guilt trip bullshit.
00:07:47
Speaker
Being a team player does not mean volunteering to be exploited so that they can save a buck or two. And number three, document everything. and lawyer up immediately.
00:07:59
Speaker
Get yourself the leverage that you deserve and that you need. If you're over 50, you're not imagining this. You're not too sensitive. This this is happening everywhere.
00:08:14
Speaker
And we have to stop quietly cooperating in our own erasure.

Joining a Supportive Community

00:08:20
Speaker
If this story hits close to home, you don't have to fight this one alone. I want you to click the link in the description below and join our Discord community.
00:08:29
Speaker
We have an incredible group of experienced professionals, over 50, comparing notes, sharing tactics, and supporting each other through these exact situations. Join us.
00:08:40
Speaker
Bring your story. We're only stronger together. Youth runs fast, but age knows the terrain. And we are finished giving that terrain away for free.
00:08:54
Speaker
If this video fired you up like it did me, hit the button, subscribe below, and share this with someone who needs to hear it today. As I say, youth runs fast, but age knows the terrain.
00:09:07
Speaker
I'll see you in the next one.