Aging and Competition: Rebuilding the U.S. Workforce

The American workplace continues to undergo profound changes as international competition intensifies. Workplace transformations and the restructuring of many of the nation's businesses are dramatically impacting the composition of the workforce. At the same time, the number of younger, entry-level workers is decreasing and the older workforce is increasing. People ages 55 and older are projected to be nearly 30 percent of the U.S. working population by 2005 and almost 40 percent by 2020.

The aging of the labor force is creating both opportunities and challenges for the U.S. economy. Older workers have the knowledge, the experience, and a disciplined work ethic that can help the nation maintain its competitive edge. However, older workers have been hardest hit by recent corporate restructuring.

This timely book examines these far-reaching trends and considers their implications for older workers and the nation. It takes an innovative look at ways that U.S. businesses can better tap the potential of the growing number of older workers -- to the benefit of both business and mature employees -- to remain competitive in the next century. Authors of the study point out the urgent need to take advantage of the recognized talents of older workers in an economy where ideas, skills, and knowledge are the main sources of economic success. The book is cosponsored by the National Policy Association and the National Council on the Aging, Inc.

"A national economic strategy that puts people first . . . is a hard-nosed response to economic reality. U.S. competitive strategy must be based on the American workforce because the people are the only resource that remains in any meaningful sense 'American.'. . . Our only realistic strategy hinges on investing in that collective capacity."

"Experience, maturity, know-how, dependability, and other positive traits that characterize older workers have always been important to any nation seeking to build and maintain a competitive economy. Their importance to the American economy is likely to increase rather than diminish in the years ahead." -- Robert B. Reich, U.S. Secretary of Labor