The older worker: a pattern with a name
It often starts before you're even hired. Many companies are quietly not hiring older workers in the first place — screening out resumes that look "overqualified" or too experienced. Once you're on staff, the same pattern continues: you interview the "young" candidate, train them... and soon they're promoted while you get little or nothing. It's one of the clearest signs of age discrimination — a pattern companies use to get rid of older workers without ever saying so directly. It has a name: being "performanced out," often through a performance improvement plan (PIP) designed to fail. Some call it quiet firing. Others call it silent firing. It's the same thing.
Zero or low pay increase
Untrue statements in your review
No promotion — ever
"Not working up to potential"
Overloaded so you'll fail
Boss stops talking to you
Terrible performance review
Customary bonus disappears
This is discrimination — and why they want a voluntary resignation.
Age, gender, race, religion, orientation — if you're pushed out over who you are, that matters legally. Talk to an employment attorney.