Linkedin removed the profile of the youngest hired engineer by Elon Musk's SpaceX for not meeting the platform's age requirement. As per the company's terms and conditions, LinkedIn services are not catered for anyone under the age of 16.
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LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 03: The LinkedIn app logo is displayed on an iPhone on August 3, 2016 in London, England.
Removing LinkedIn Profile over Age Requirements
In an Instagram post, 14-year-old Kairan Quazi shared his disappointment with the removal of his LinkedIn profile after not meeting the age requirement on the platform. According to a report from Interesting Engineering, Quazi is SpaceX's youngest hired engineer, which is an enough qualification for him to have access to a professional social media platform.
This concept was described by Quazi as a concept that refers to a bias that favors adults over young people. He stated this move from the company as illogical, primitive nonsense as he faced this constantly. The young engineer also requested his followers to share this screenshot on their respective LinkedIn accounts and ask people to connect him with Instagram.
Aside from the removal of his profile, LinkedIn also canceled Quazi's premium membership on the platform. As per the company's spokesperson, they are bound by their user agreement which categorically states that no one under sixteen is permissible to make a user profile. LinkedIn encouraged him to come back to the platform once he turns 16 years old.
In a comment sent to Business Insider, Quazi stated that LinkedIn's age policies lack imagination and are rooted in adultism. The platform is very important for young people, especially to him who need a lot of access to mentors and industry discussions that take place on the platform.
Joining SpaceX as the Youngest Hired Engineer
Despite this, he remains hopeful that LinkedIn will update its age policy to at least align with most labor laws. As of the moment, Fortune reported that Quazi's LinkedIn account is no longer accessible. This was the same platform where he used to announce that would soon be starting a job as a software engineer at SpaceX, making him the youngest hired engineer of the company.
He noted, "I will be joining the coolest company on the planet as a software engineer on the Starlink engineering team. One of the rare companies that did not use my age as an arbitrary and outdated proxy for maturity and ability."
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Quazi will soon graduate from Santa Clara University and will make the move to Washington to join the Starlink team in Redmond. The Guardian reported that Quazi will not be the only youngest in the school, 172-year history, but is also about to be part of the list of people who have graduated from college in their childhoods.
As per him, the decisions made by Las Positas to accept him as a student and Intel to give him an internship changed everything in his life, leading him to this moment. He hopes that this opens the doors to more people like him.
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