Site icon Living to 100 Club

Seniors in the Workplace

senior leader

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:

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. 

Exit mobile version