Aging Workforce Challenges

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.

With longer life spans and a decrease in birth rates, older generations are working longer (age diversity). Age diversity is the acceptance of all age groups and their differences within an organization. Besides providing years of experience to younger generations, older employees can also increase organizational value (age diversity). In regards to Target, there are many older employees working, some due to the recessions and lost their higher paying jobs and could only get minimum wage jobs, since they were the only job openings. Bringing their experiences to the corporate culture allow for the ability to avoid certain

Age discrimination in the workforce is a major issue in Today’s society. Although this is hardly ever mentioned, it is a concern that affects the aging population and their work performance. Those who are of old age are often not given a chance and looked down on. They are thought of as being mentally and physically in decline, less adaptable, unwilling to be trained, and costly to the organization. The elderly are considered “slow workers.” They are often forced to work extra hard to prove to their employer, they are capable of working as effective as the young. Defining someone’s work performance according to their age is against the law. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) addresses discrimination against the older population. This Act was passed by congress to ensure people of age 40 and older are given fair judgment in the workforce; however, the maturing population of baby boomers has led to an increasing number of elderly workers. This has cause age discrimination to rise. It is important that we review and analyze age discrimination has a political issues that must be changed. Although ADEA sets out to help the aging population, changes should be made within the employer. In order to seek change, one must first understand ADEA and how it promotes fair treatment for the elderly.

The next issue I’d like to talk about is the positive and negative perception of older workers. Executives and managers have both positive and negative outlooks on older employees depending mostly on the job being performed. Studies done by AARP said that elderly workers (those age 50 and older), and were valued for their experience, knowledge, work habits, attitudes, commitment to quality, loyalty, punctuality, ability to keep cool in crisis, and respect to authority. (AARP 1989) They are valued

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.

The workforce is seeing up to five generations working together for the first time in history. People are choosing to work longer and delay retirement. Ultimately, the workforce could experience up to six generations working together. It’s the role of business leaders to embrace diversity and guide their teams to cohesion. Generational gaps can pose challenges in the workplace, but understanding each generation 's unique characteristics and skills sets will assist in effectively managing diversity to keep a peaceful coexistence.

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

Age discrimination has long been present in society due to the rapid development happening around us. According to Farney, Aday & Breault (2006), this era of ageism is defined as "discrimination against any age group", but it often is pointed to age discrimination among adults which is slowly causing a negative effect for them in the workplace. In the workplace, adults with more experience and longer history behind them are targets of this ageism belief that companies and employers tend to have (Farney, Aday, & Breault, 2006). They are shunned and even fired in favor of accepting new and fresh faces for the company they have worked for. Unknown to most companies and employers, this notion of favoring the young and banishing the old can

Over the last few years there has been a growing concern over ageism in America’s places of business, not only through job advertisement, but also during the hiring process, among current employees, and even issues during the end of a person’s career. While there are many types of discrimination in the workplace, all of which are illegal, ageism is prevalent at every stage of a person’s career and can impact not only the employee or potential employee, but the whole company as wellcompany as a whole. Individuals who are over the age of sixty-five make up a large percent of the workforce, and many are dedicated to their employers, it’s when the employer believes that they can hire someone who is much young to do the work that ageism begins to play a role in their career. It isn’t till they companies see that it may take three younger employees to complete the task that of a senior employee.

Ageism is a huge problem against older people in the workplace. Most employers look for the most respectable, intelligent, hardworking workers who are capable of doing the job tasks. A lot of employers may prefer younger employees over older employees with the idea that younger employees are more able and efficient for the job which isn’t true in most cases. Many employers could also believe that young employees are a better choice because they might be able to work longer periods of time, more up to date with technology,

The older worker is a forceful business opportunity for all types of workplaces based on the result of research. Age discrimination, therefore, needs to be avoided in companies. Everyone should be working in a harmonious environment. This is making a better outlook, such as increase job opportunities and open willingness for hiring different people with different ability. Also, in terms of their value or cost to an organization it fits government policies and not merely for the company’s financial condition. (Ryan, S

When people first consider this reason, it makes sense at first. Older youngers are more fragile and can’t do as much physically and technologically like young people can. Andrew Mayfair says, “Your business may lose the potential to mold and keep a valuable employee for years to come” (Mayfair). Andrew Mayfair points out in his article, “The Consequences of Age Discrimination at Work”, how businesses believe that getting rid of older employees who can’t do as much as younger employees is helping the company. Mayfair then explains how older employees, with their extensive knowledge, are the “molds” for the younger employees. Instead of letting a younger employee slowly gain a vast amount of knowledge, the older employees already possess this and can pass it down to the new and inexperienced employees. Businesses who will discriminate against people of older age have the misconception that they are helping their business by getting rid of older employees. Little do they realize, these discriminatory practices are causing the adolescent employees to be substantially held back due to their little knowledge of the

Aging! We all do it every day, but have you ever thought how it is going to affect the rest of your life or more importantly your career? Aging isn’t something that we get to choose if we participate in, however working is, and aging may affect that choice. Right now, I want you to think about the age of sixty-five. What words pop into your head when you think of someone sixty-five? I’d imagine some of the words you thought of were retired, old, fragile, slow, as well as many others. Those words right there all help to explain the many concerns that one’s employer may have when hiring someone that is of the older population. When we think of the older population in the work force we don’t necessarily think of positive things, instead we think of things. When we think of this population in the workforce we generally think of lower production rates and higher costs. These can create issues among the older population, as employers must consider all the possibilities when hiring someone. We know that more people in the older population are continuing to try to continue their careers, but why? How hard is it for them to continue? What changes have made it easier? How are the younger and middle aged populations perceiving them in the work place? This are only some of the many question surrounding the increase of aged workers.

“The number of employees over the age of 55 has increased by 30 percent; however, the number of 25- to 54-year-olds has only increased by 1 percent” (Claire, 2009). In 2008 the eldest of the 77 million baby-boomers turned 62. Estimates are that by the end of the decade about 40 percent of the work force will be eligible to retire. As people begin to reach the age of retirement there may be not be enough new employees to fill the gap (Clare, 2009). Companies need to find ways to attract Boomers and Millennials. Companies that want to attract Boomers and Millennials need to be creative in their culture, HR policies and work environments.

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.