As scientific discoveries and medical advances are making it possible to live largely healthy, active, and productive lives well beyond the usual retirement age, it’s a fact of life that people are living longer, healthier lives… and working well past their sixty-fifth birthdays.
In fact, by the year 2030, citizens aged sixty-five years and older will outnumber children under the age of 18 in the United States. But, when these “retirement aged” folks simply don’t retire, what’s going to happen to the job market?
While people are living longer and healthier lives, resources to support their retirement are dwindling and, with the price of living continuing to climb, many are rethinking their idea of retirement as well as their vision of old age, incorporating plans for encore careers. This means that, in the near future, there will be as many as five different generations in the workforce at a time.
Reacting to this, many critics are making doomsday predictions of a slowed economy, decreased job availability, and worsening productivity and production. This attitude is due to several societal factor and myths that increase the inaccurate assumption that older generations are a burden on society.
In the past, retirement has been treated by both older and younger people has an escape from the duties of a career or job and much focus has been put on bringing “new blood” and “younger perspectives” into the workforce. Just think about the effort and money companies spend trying to attract Millenials into their employee workforce!
Yet, this aging working force demographic can bring hope and even much-needed revitalization to the world’s job market. Older generations can bring years of experience, wisdom, and perspective to the workforce that simply isn’t there today!
According to Paul Irving of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging, a growing “multigenerational workforce” provides many exciting opportunities for everyone involved from employers and consumers to employees of all ages.
In his recent article, “When No One Retires,” Irving describes his vision for what he calls his “longevity strategy,” a win-win strategy to incorporate and include older workers in the workforce in a more meaningful and beneficial way. His argument against the agist tendencies of the workforce at large today includes several meaningful ways that companies and businesses everywhere can begin to transform their business models to take advantage of the ways that the older generation of workers can contribute to economic and business success!
Irving’s main ideas for providing for a multigenerational workforce includes redefining the regular workweek to allow more flexible hours, redesigning the workplace to create a healthier workplace environment, and initiating a dialogue between employees from different generations to foster understanding and collaboration.
Whether you’ve thought about how the aging workforce will impact your life and work or not, now is the time to start preparing yourself for this new and exciting reality! Instead of focusing on employment strategies that only account for the short term, smart employers will start shifting their mindsets and their business policies and methods to accommodate this new and aging demographic.