The Workplace For The Aging Workforce

The concern most employers have about older workers is their ability to perform, primarily because this opens up a host of issues such as safety and health. Even more to the point employers have concerns about an older workers physical malfunctions and their decline in mental capacity. But that argument is being challenged through healthy living habits such as exercise and proper diet.

Physical development continues to decline as one ages, typically experiencing weakened immune systems and a lessened ability to hear, see, smell and balance as well as before (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). Because of such challenges, older adults are more prone to failing and hurting themselves, which can compound physical challenges and require adjustments to go about accomplishing once was normal daily life tasks.

As people age, they develop dental problems, which lead to nutritional issues. Cognitive function decline affects memory, decision making, conversing, and problem solving. In addition, falls occur with mental status disturbances. Sleep

According to our lecture, vision is restricted in old age. This is due to that fact that the lens becomes dull and thickens. The pupil becomes less reactive. Other medical issues can include cataracts and glaucoma. Cataracts is a medical condition in which the eye becomes progressively opaque, resulting in blurred vision. Glaucoma is an increase of pressure on the eyeball, causing gradual loss of sight. As for hearing, it can be damaged due to the small hairs within the cochlea. The elasticity of the tympanic membrane can also damage hearing. As for the sensory system, elderly often experience substantial decline in their ability to detect and discriminate touch stimuli. The age–related changed in prehension patterns (grip and pinch strength) and hand dexterity in the elderly population is most common. Deterioration in hand function is, to a large degree, secondary to degenerative changes in the musculoskeletal, vascular, and nervous systems. Deterioration of hand function is a combination of local structural changes (joint, muscle, tendon, bone, nerve receptors, blood supply, and skin) and more distant changes in neural

One issue I believe is most pressing for aging individuals over 60 is learning how to live without their close ones who have passed before them. This is a pressing issues because everyone will have to grief at some point in their life but everyone grieves differently. For some individuals losing most of the people close to them causes them to feel very lonely and slip into depression. From my experience with witnessing individuals over 60 lose someone close to them I’ve notice they completely change. The individuals either become angry and mean to others or they become very antisocial and prefer to always stay at home. This is a pressing issue because in early stages of life you think positive of the future and start to plan happy life events, but it never occurs to individuals to plan for their loved one's death. When their death does occur the individual is left unprepared and stuck asking the questions, “why not me? Or “when will it be my turn to die.”

Diversity and inclusion are more than buzzwords; together they are a concept of using and accepting employee differences in a safe environment. Fifty-two years after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, this nation’s citizens are still fighting for equality. The limit to prejudicial boundaries does not stop with a person’s skin; it includes religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. It is the leadership of an organization’s obligation to smash the boundaries and create a diverse workplace, but what happens when the leadership is the antagonist? Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) had to answer this question and take the steps to rebuild trust with the employees.

Ageism does exist in the work place and I have heard several stories from people that have experienced ageism. However, I don’t believe it should exist in the workplace, because I have learn more from older co-workers than younger co-workers. The older co-workers seemed to be more mature, professional, and have great wisdom and knowledge.

The aging population 65 and older is expected to exceed 70 million by the year 2030 adding to the long-term care workforce crisis in a sector that is already experiencing shortage issues. This will equate to approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population that will be eligible for Medicare by 2030. At this time our the current health care system is not prepared to provide the preeminent care for the aging that have multiple chronic health issues and disabilities. The shortage of providers specializing in geriatrics could put the health of our aging population at risk.

As people grow older, they develop dental problems which lead to nutritional intake issues. Cognitive function declines affecting memory, decision making, conversing, and problem solving. In addition, falls can occur with mental status disturbances. Lack of social interaction, depression, and anxiety also crop up in the elderly. Sleep patterns are altered by restless legs, snoring, and disrupted breathing sequences. At times, pain can be constant from arthritis, osteoarthritis, or other medical issues (Tabloski, 2014).

Imagine being an older aged person going into an interview. You go through the entire interview and kill it, nothing went wrong, and the interviewer even says the job is basically yours. When leaving the interview, a younger kid walks in. The following day, you find out that you were declined, and that the other applicant that walked in after got the job. Later, you find out that you and that younger kid had the same qualifications. This is what happens when people experience age discrimination. People don’t understand how ageism can go from harming one person, all the way to an entire business. Discriminating against age is still happening all around and many people don’t know it’s happening. More action needs to be taken in order to really

The number of adults over the age of 65 has been increasing in last number of years. Senior citizens make up around 20% of the United States population. Adults over the age of 65 have and experience at some point limitations in their lifestyle and in the way they live day to day. Most of the US senior citizens can and live independently and continue to maintain a close relationship with friends and family. Then there are those seniors that experience changes in their life that prevents them from being unable to live independently. The common age-related changes include hearing impairment, weakening in vision, arthritis, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis. The most extreme impairment is when older adults experience cognitive changes that are associated with mental processing. (citation)

While the human body ages, physical, psychological, and social changes may take place. As for physical differences, many common changes include: senile lentigines, osteoporosis, arthritis, thrombus, cataracts, glaucoma, dysphagia, nocturia, incontience. Psychological changes may include: disease, disability, decrease of cognitive function. Social changes on the other hand, can be positive or negative. Some examples of social changes are: work, retirement, social relationships, living environments, independence. Considering all of the changes that our bodies perform as we age, the decrease of cognitive function is important to recognize. Cognitive Functions are activities that deal with your brain. They are basic knowledge, memory, focus, and other brain functions . The reason that cognitive function decreases as one ages, can be due to IR (Insulin Resistance), becoming overweight, endothelial dysfunction, a decrease in social interaction, lonlines or feelings of not having a purpose for life , disease, MCI

The human body begins to change amongst the ages of 25 and 65. People who are middle age waist size go up, they have muscle weakness, adipose descend on the stomach of men, the butt, the upper arms, and chin. People who are middle age tend to have a slouched posture when they are in a standing position. The vertebrae in the spine shrinks due to middle age. Bones, muscles, and some tissues loses density when people become middle age. A person will lose 2 to 3 centimeters in their vertebrae by the age of 65, and the cushions between the spinal disk are declining. When a person age it is harder for them to bend over, their joints lack flexibility, and stiffness is present. Type II muscles decline quicker than Type I fibers. Peripheral vision begins

Not long ago finding that people in their nineties can build muscle made front page news. Why did the finding surprise us? It surprised us because it violates our concept of aging. "Gradual deterioration" sets up expectation of irreversible loss in muscle mass, bone density, lung capacity, balance, flexibility, etc. Obedient to the concept, we "act our age,"sitting sedentary, deteriorating according to plan. Inactivity precipitates decline in a vicious circle, but no matter how limiting and self-destructive, we conform and age to the letter. We succumb more to the concept than to age itself, even though all the while, the concept is mistaken.

The review of literature explores the phenomenon of the aging workforce, the impact of the age-bias in the workplace for technology training, and how companies are realigning training to address a multigenerational workforce. The first perspective will discuss the upwards trend of the workforce age and the reasons attributing to the phenomenon. The second perspective discusses the age-bias associated with older workers relative to technology training. The third perspective focuses on how organizations are adapting to the change and realigning training needs.