Why The Aging Workforce Has Hurt Productivity

Many employers view the old employers especially the baby boomers as too rigid, failing health, lack of enthusiasm, afraid of new technologies, do not want to learn new training (stuck in old ways), and expensive to keep. Many aged people are viewing job advertisements with pictures of younger employees. In addition, the aged are facing high cost of medical insurance and healthcare. With the obstacles in the job market, the aged could possibly experience social isolationism, low self-esteem, and financial hardship.

Economic factors will play a role in baby boomers working beyond the age of 50. Due

While these aspects of society certainly do impact a nation with a growing older population, they are not the most problematic. Financial instability of the country should not be the spotlight of concern, but as people are living longer, people should be more concerned with that the typical life should look different in the future. With this in mind, the article proposes other areas of concern: lack of incentive for volunteering, little to no new education for older adults, and massive technological change with no way for older generations to learn how to use it. If these areas are not provided with change, it will ultimately lead to economic hardship for the elderly, due to the lack of new education and technological knowledge, which would, in turn, able them to work longer. If older generations were able to stay in the workforce longer, our aging society, which people believe may eventually not have a large enough work force, would be able to avoid this presumed

By 2020, approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population will be 65 years or older and employers have yet to come to grips with this fact. The aging population will affect the workforce through retirement and those continuing to work. Medicare and Social Security are very likely to undergo profound changes. Some who reach the age of 65 will not be able to retire due to the fact that they require outside income. Retired or not, the aging population will contribute heavily to the consumer market. Their demand for leisure-time pursuits and professional services will fuel local labor markets. This boom in the service sector may replace many low-skilled or unskilled jobs. The aging of the population will be far more dramatic that ethnic

The Department of Labor estimates that by the year 2012, the Labor Force will be over age 55 (Harvey 184). In a time when issues such as Age and Ability are at the far front for a lot of employers, understanding how to deal with an aging workforce is essential. The debate on how to address this issue is only beginning.

Some negative examples of how people in the workforce perceive older adults in the workforce are that older workers produce lower quality work, inflexible, less productive and are resistant to change. Some employers believe older adult workers skills are dated or do not have the required set of competence needed. Giving training and continuing education opportunities as well as companies adapting these courses to those with less experience technically will help with ensuring that older adults continue to feel like a vital part of the business and keep working until they decide to

It no stretch to see that the majority of workers nowadays are above forty. The population of youth is unable to get the jobs to support themselves and the seniors are given them instead due to more work experience and the fact that the better part

Aging and retirement are two concepts that most people think about when it comes to exiting the workforce. Contrary to popular belief, retirement is now being delayed as older Americans live longer. In an article titled, Older Americans employment and retirement by Tang et al. (2013), they detail a new pattern of retirement, while also discussing some issues that should be examined (Tang et al., 2013). The issues mentioned can have an effect on future generations in terms of retirement. This writer examines various components such as gender differences, longevity, and low income. Furthermore, this writer reviews this article in an effort to understand how human service professionals play a role in such a transition of a person’s life.

However that is not the case in today’s society amongst seniors. Seniors still have the desire to work or they actually have to work in order to sustain their own well-being. In this article it discusses the motive for what drives seniors to continue working, “Polling of CARP members shows that about half of seniors want to work and half need to work, Eng says. Those who choose to work enjoy the sense of engagement and contribution that paid employment brings” (Luke, 2014). This context ties in with the age stratification theory, which states that it “focuses on the movement of age cohorts over the life course” (Novak et al., 2014 p.26). Seniors wish to continue working which will cause conflicts between two age cohorts. Age cohorts are defined as a group of people born in the same period of time (Novak et al., 2014 p.26). Baby boomers are individuals born after World War 2 and the younger individuals are either from the MTV generation or boomerang generation Younger generations whom are searching for job opportunities will be facing further competition. The notion of old age in previous is to stop working and retire. However this article states that “The idea in the past that at a certain age you just quit — you stop working, stop dressing, stop getting engaged in politics — is changing,” The agenda for seniors now is to continue working rather than

The changing demographics in Canada are creating an older workforce. Policies and initiatives to engage older individuals are, therefore, in demand and need to be effectively integrated, targeted and adequately resourced. Flexibility in employment could help Canada address its changing social context as more “boomers” reach retirement. Furthermore, there are economic and social gains to be made by encouraging an extended work-life, many of which (including mentorship and knowledge-transfer) will also benefit younger cohorts. As a policy and practice instrument, PLAR also holds significant possibilities for encouraging experienced people to pursue encore careers and helping them assess a legacy of learning and experience. As a legacy planning tool, portfolio can be used creatively as a means to reflect on one’s purpose and accomplishments, and thus help illuminate a plan for the next stages of life as well as career direction. (Wong, 1997)

I was born during the baby boomer era, and it is for this reason that I focus on the position of people aged 55 and over in the market today. People my age have been hit with the socio-economic and financial crisis, which contributed unemployment and long term unemployment. And unfortunately this is a primarily problem, I do not want to become one of the unemployed elderly because that I am not the right fit because of my age. There are a number of stereotypes that profess a key obstacle to employment of persons aged 55 and over. These stereotypes suggest that older workers: are not as interested in learning new skills, are not physically energetic and mentally ready to respond to the stresses of their jobs, and time would be a wasted in training

“People are working longer. Not always because they want too but because they have too.” (CITATION) Those who were planning to retire or have retired, found that what they had saved for themselves was underestimated. Therefore, resulting in them having to go back into the workforce. However, there is a lot of controversy over this topic and allowing elders who have retired back into the workforce. Not only because of agism, but it is said that they are “Steeling jobs from the undergraduate.” (CITATION) It’s proven that “for every baby boomer in the workforce, it would take 2 students to replace them.” (CITATION) But this gives no reason to discriminate against and turn away from elders in the workforce, especially when they are qualified for the job. Nonetheless “It is a real challenge to start a new occupation when you are older and especially getting back into the workforce and with a new job.” (CITATION) Elders who have have been working for majority of their lives begin to identify themselves with there jobs, and “there is stigma when you identify yourself with your title and career and suddenly don't have it.” (CITATION) Conrad Black is an example of this. He is one of the elders at the Round Table Discussion and he was “Hired, Fired and NOT retired” (CITATION) One of the guest speakers at the discussion, talked about how he was involuntarily

Aging population can be used as an advantage to increase economic rates growth by keeping them employed as long as possible (Nankervis et al. 2006, p.55). People who are working in a knowledge fields may increase their performance with age, however for more physical positions there is an opposite possibility of low performance with increasing age (Patrickson & Ranzijn, 2006). Consequently, specific jobs may have lack of professional employees. For example by separating workers and using older workers as experience type that can teach and train young employees, as well as use their knowledge will benefit organization in different departments. Also by using younger workers as routine workers or in more physical positions that are hard to perform for older employees will give them opportunity to earn more experience and will keep older employees working as well (Patrickson & Ranzijn, 2006). It is necessary for human resources to distribute their workforce accordingly and to provide required training for their young and old employees.

Since firms commonly do not entice less learned workers, the development multitude of older, less-literate workers are promising to ground an added sprain on the notorious manege system. In augmentation, appreciate of the capability for performance at older generation prompt that the possibility for manufacture is much larger that the symmetry of persons veritably practical. Labor offer are procreate jobs with higher reason requirements, but infectious increase of these opportunities direct extended manage opportunities, peculiarly among older workers severe to void the expression of dying.

Whether to allow retired citizens to continue working after passing their retirement age is still a huge doubt in our current society. Organizations may not want to re-employ them as they may be unfit for the job due to their physical limitations. However, re-employing them will greatly benefit them. I will be giving my opinions and suggestions for this concern in this blog post.