Joe Casciani, PhD
July 16, 2020
The U.S. workforce is aging at a rapid rate. According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, by 2025, 25% of workers in the U.S. and the U.K. are expected to be over the age of 55. We are living longer; the average longevity of a human life goes up three months every year, with the average life expectancy now being 79. Along with this aging of the workforce, we face the fact that fewer young adults are available to fill the job vacancies available, with the birthrate at 1.7 to 1.9 in the U.S., far below the rate to replace those leaving the workforce.
With this gap between job openings and availability of workers, one viable solution is to rely more on those who would typically be thinking about retirement at 65. This solution has two necessary and sufficient conditions: first, we create a momentum in the job market that values older workers AND second, we rid ourselves of the self-limiting stereotype that three or four decades of work inevitably leads to retirement and disengaging from any workplace. The notion that retirement divides work from leisure may have been the traditional model, but this is no longer the prevailing belief.
Studies conducted by AARP have consistently shown that employees 50 and up are the most engaged members of the workforce; 65% of employees 55+ are “engaged” compared to 58 to 60% of younger employees. And, beyond this greater level of engagement, the 50+ group is more experienced and committed to their jobs and show less turnover than younger employees. OA want to grow, learn, try new things, enjoy self-worth that comes with being productive or contributing, enjoy the socialization
What Businesses Can Do To Honor and Retain 55+ Employees
The first half of the necessary and sufficient conditions to keep seniors working beyond the usual retirement age include:
- Recognize the experience and wisdom they bring, using titles and managerial or supervisorial roles that may deviate from the usual office hierarchy or organizational chart (Dychtwald et al.).
- Monitor the recruiting ads and what traits and talents that are emphasized for the open positions: “expertise” and “knowledge” over “fast-paced” and “fresh thinking, ” and avoid the implicit bias that age may bring.
- Be prepared to provide alternative training models, and extraordinary training opportunities since many seniors will be less likely to request it or admit any knowledge deficiencies.
- Remove the “mandatory retirement” age that allowed younger employees to replace the older employees. The practice of promoting lower salaries and “fresh blood” for a loss of experience and company memory has a cost. Lee Iacocca once commented, I’ve always been against automated chronological dates to farm people out. The union would always say, ‘Make room for the new blood; there aren’t enough jobs to go around.’ Well, that’s a hell of a policy to have. I had people at Chrysler who were 40 but acted 80, and I had 80-year-olds who could do everything a 40-year-old can. You have to take a different view of age now. People are living longer. Age just gives experience. Besides, it takes you until about 50 to know what the hell is going on in the world.
- Create flexible work schedules due to shifting responsibilities for the 55+ worker, and consider part-time positions, job sharing, and compressed workweeks.
- Ensure that the work setting itself can accommodate the needs of employees of all ages, including lighting, workstations, printed materials, and other environmental features.
- Encourage younger managers to embrace the diversity and experience of the older worker, and more inter-generational give-and-take.
It seems that longevity and age are on the radar screens of everyone these days. And the evolution from the days where advancing age equals decline and disability to one where advancing age equals opportunity and purpose is taking place right before our eyes. Let’s be ready, and let’s get out of the way – this is a good evolution.
This is the first in a series of upcoming articles about Seniors in the Workplace, articles that will highlight the benefits and contributions of the older worker, ageism in the workplace, and managing the unique physical, cognitive, and psychological elements that may manifest with the 55+ group.