The Older Worker Advantage: Making the Most of Our Aging Workforce

Recently published figures predict that the number of employed individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 will increase by 11 million by 2010; on average, today's 65-year-old can expect to live to 83. This book tackles the issue of the aging workforce head on, taking into account both the organization's/manager's point of view and the older employee's point of view. Gordon Shea and Adolf Haasen, experts on corporate culture and management development, consider the broad demographic trends that are changing the makeup of organizations, and then provide specific approaches for managers to adopt in order to ensure that older employees are engaged and challenged while contributing to the company's bottom line. The authors consider such topics as: what motivates olders workers, the impact of technology on older worker training, and career trends in the health, education, and retail sectors. They showcase pioneering efforts in multi-generational work at such organizations as AES Corporation and the U.S. Coast Guard, and they offer a variety of checklists and other interactive and diagnostic elements to guide managers. The book concludes with information on the legal apsects of older worker employment, along with resources for both managers and older employees.

As the huge cadre of baby boomers approaches traditional retirement age, such factors as financial security, health benefits, and the attractiveness of staying active in later years are encouraging more older people to work well into their 60s, 70s, and even 80s, while businesses are learning to anticipate their long-term employment needs, and facing potential labor shortages unless they hold onto and develop more older workers. The economic, political, and cultural implications of these trends will reach staggering proportions, changing the make-up of organizations large and small and the very nature of work and our attitudes toward it.

Gordon F. Shea is founder of Prime Systems Company, a training and human resources firm. He also teaches Communication Studies at the University of Maryland University College. With over thirty years of experience as a practicing supervisor, manager, and executive in government and private industry, he has published many articles and books on management, including Mentoring, Building Trust in the Workplace, The New Employee, and, with Adolf Haasen, A Better Place to Work and New Corporate Cultures That Motivate (Praeger, 2003).

Adolf Haasen is Managing Partner of A&R Associates, a human resources consulting firm. He gained extensive international experience as an executive for the German-based global pharmaceutical company, Merck. With Gordon Shea he is coauthor of A Better Place to Work and New Corporate Cultures That Motivate (Praeger, 2003).