Speedway

I am a former employee of this organization. I was employed a total of 12 years. During that time I observed a culture of age discrimination that existed throughout the company, both in the corporate environment and in their store operations. Simply put, no one gets to retirement age - regardless of tenure or performance - with Speedway. The attrition is subtle and often seems justifiable to those management involved in each individual situation. A long term, well rated employee starts to age. Often the desire by management to create an opportunity for a young, up and coming employee, forces the aging employee to switch to a different job - usually one with less responsibility. This patterns persists until the aging employee has been shuffled into a role that is expendable or ill-suited for their talents. The end is typically unceremonious. Those up close justify the loss of employment because the aging employee wasn't handling their current job task acceptably - but are not aware of the big picture, and the institutional pattern that they have taken a role within.

Learning of a 19 year employee who was nearing retirement age, who was recently let go, despite years of excellent performance - is what prompted me to write this e-mail.