As the number of young people entering employment falls in the coming years, there will be a significant increase in the proportion of older people in the workforce. Employers will have to rely increasingly on ageing workers, and this could be to their advantage.
Some studies show that older workers are more dedicated to the workplace, have fewer sickness absences and stay in jobs longer. The skills, experience and maturity of older workers generally outweigh potential problems such as increasing, age-related ill health.
Increasing employment levels and prolonging people’s working lives have been important objectives of national and European policies since the late 1990s. The EU27 employment rate for people aged 55–64 rose from 36.9% in 2000 to 46% in 2009. However, this is still far below the general employment rate of the age group 20–64, which was 69% in 2009. The EU27 average exit age from the labour market also increased steadily, from 59.9 in 2001 to 61.2 years in 2007.
Europe 2020 Strategy
aims to increase the employment rate of the population aged 20-64 to 75%. For this to happen, European citizens will have to
have been introduced recently in many EU countries. But to prevent a situation where raising the retirement age leads to an increased incidence of early retirement and claims for disability pensions, measures
also need to be taken at the workplace
to support the changes in pension systems
and to enable and encourage people to continue working until the retirement age.
These measures include
improvement of working conditions, better
age management, and
promotion of work ability
over the person’s entire working life. An opinion poll carried out by EU-OSHA in 2012
shows that a large majority of EU citizens think that good health and safety practices are very important to help people work for longer before they retire.
Prevention of workplace accidents, work-related symptoms and diseases in all age groups should be a high priority. To help workers who already have health problems or chronic diseases to stay in work, the key is the
adjustment of the work to their health condition and abilities. The
rehabilitation and reintegration of workers
excluded from the workplace for a long period because of an accident at work, occupational illness or disability, also needs to be improved.
Attitudes towards ageing also need to be changed. The
results show that workplace age discrimination
is the most frequently reported form of age discrimination. Around one in 20 people have personally experienced age discrimination in the workplace (6%) and a further one in seven (15%) have witnessed it. Around seven out of ten citizens consider the fact that older employees are not viewed positively by employers as an important reason for leaving the labour market.
Older workers in the workplace
Age and productivity
One of the major issues related to the ageing of the workforce is the concern that age-related declines in functional capacities and health automatically lead to
worsening performance and decreased productivity among older workers. The relationship between age and productivity is much more complex, due to the benefits of on-the-job experience, increased job knowledge, professional mastery, expertise, adaptability, and the use of compensatory strategies.
There is no consistent evidence that older workers are generally less productive
than younger workers. At the same time, there is accumulating evidence that job experience is a more valid and reliable predictor of productivity than chronological age.
The proportion of employed people for whom a work-related health problem did not result in sick leave was relatively similar in all age groups (41–42%).
Sick leave of one day or more decreased with age (from 46% to 36%), whereas the occurrence of sick leave of one month or more increased with age (from 13% to 23%).
Research shows that:
Older workers are generally
less likely to have accidents
than their younger counterparts.
Workplace accidents involving older workers tend to result in more serious injuries (i.e., permanent disability, dismemberment, or death)
Particular causes of stress for older workers can be
lack of opportunities
for career development and training, and difficulties in adapting to changing technologies.
Many attributes, such as
holistic perception and the ability to deliberate, either increase or first emerge with increasing age. Work experience and
also accumulate with age. There is also evidence that cognitive performance does not generally show any marked decline until after the age of 70.
some functional capacities, mainly physical and sensory,
as a result of the natural ageing process. Potential changes in functional capacities have to be taken into account in risk assessment, and work and the
work environment have to be modified
to address those changes.
The age-related changes in functional capacity are not uniform because of individual differences in lifestyle, nutrition, fitness, genetic predisposition to illness, educational level, and work and other environments.
Ageing in itself is not the determining factor for a decline in capacity, but it interacts with all these factors that together affect functional capacity. The changes in functional capacity occur in relation to
rather than in relation to age groups, which means that there are considerable inter-individual differences.
People’s health in later life is also
affected by their health behaviour earlier in life. Decline of functional capacities can be delayed and minimised by healthy lifestyle habits, such as regular exercise and healthy eating. The workplace has a key role to play in
promoting a healthy lifestyle
activities that prevent the decline of functional capacity, thus help maintaining work ability.
Workplace health promotion
(WHP) covers a variety of topics including diet and nutrition, alcohol consumption, quitting smoking, getting enough exercise, recovery and sleep.
Many age-related changes in functional capacities are more relevant in some professional activities than in others. For example, changes in balance have an implication for fire-fighters and rescue personnel who work in extreme conditions, wearing heavy equipment and lifting and carrying people; a decreased ability to judge distances and the speed of moving objects has an implication for night-driving but does not affect office workers.
Ageing and the changing world of work
Age-related decline affects mainly physical and sensory capacities, which are most relevant to heavy physical work. On the one hand industrial changes, particularly the shift from extractive and manufacturing industry towards services and knowledge-based industry, have led to a reduction in the number of jobs requiring high levels of physical strength.
Increasing automation and mechanisation of tasks, as well the use of powered equipment, have also reduced the need for heavy physical work. On the other hand, the changing world of work values
many abilities and skills which are associated with older people, such as
customer service, and
Age-sensitive risk assessment
Risk assessments should take into account the large individual differences
in functional capacities, health and other aspects of diversity among workers, such as disabilities, gender issues, age, migrant status, etc.
Adapting work to individual abilities, skills and state of health should be a
continuous and dynamic process
throughout the person’s career, based on adequate risk assessment. This includes adapting work to older workers’ health status and needs. Age is just one aspect of the
diversity of the workforce.
Age-sensitive risk assessment means taking into account age-related aspects of different age groups when assessing risk, including potential changes in functional capacity and health status in the case of older workers. For example, more consideration must be given to the
of the work, hazards related to shift work, work in hot conditions, noise, etc., in the case of older workers. However, as inter-individual differences increase with age, assumptions should not be made purely on the basis of age. The risk assessment should consider work demands in relation to the individual’s functional capacities and health status.
Because of these large individual differences, the way in which the workplace is modified to address changes in functional capacity has to be tailored to the needs and condition of each worker.
Good workplace design
benefits all age groups while targeting older workers.
Due to large individual differences, the way in which the workplace is modified to address changes in functional capacity has to be tailored to the needs and condition of each worker. Good workplace design benefits all age groups while targeting older workers.
can be addressed by ensuring appropriate lighting and regular sight tests. Decreased ability to judge distances and the speed of moving objects has an implication for night-driving.
In relation to
hearing, overall workplace noise levels need to be reduced. Regular hearing tests are recommended.
physical functional capacity
can be addressed for example through:
and other assistive technologies
Restrictions on heavy lifting and physically demanding tasks
Training in appropriate lifting and carrying techniques
design of tools, equipment and furniture
Good workplace design to minimise the likelihood of falls
recovery, e.g. through short breaks, more frequent breaks
Organisation of shift work, e.g. using a ‘fast forward rotating shift system’
Work ability and its promotion
Work ability is the balance between work and individual resources; when work and individual resources fit well together, work ability is good.
The core factors affecting individual work ability are:
health and functional capacities
values, attitudes and motivation
different aspects of work including
work environment, work content and demands, work organisation, work community, and leadership.
Work ability can be measured by the
Work Ability Index
(see Examples of age management tools below).
Promotion of work ability is an important area of age management. The work ability concept suggests thatactions in the workplace to promote work ability
should cover all dimensions of work. Promoting work ability requires
cooperation between the employer and workers,
There is evidence of the
beneficial effect of work on the recovery
of people on sick leave. By contrast, long-term sick leave can lead to mental health issues, isolation, social exclusion and early exit from the labour market. Raising employment rates and prolonging working lives, while reducing early retirement and the uptake of disability pensions, are high priorities. This means it is more important than ever to help people with health problems to remain in work. Occupational rehabilitation, and facilitating return to work
after sick leave due to illness and injury, are also crucial.
In many European countries initiatives have been taken to facilitate return to work. In the
in 2010 the ‘sick note’ was replaced by the ‘fit note’, aiming to prevent long-term sickness absence. In Denmark, a
Return to Work intervention
project has been initiated at a national level, focusing on people on long-term sick leave.
Age management at organisational level means taking into consideration age-related factors in daily management, including work arrangements and individual work tasks. The dimensions of age management are:
Fair attitudes towards ageing
Age management as a core task and duty of managers and supervisors
Age management included in HR policy
Promotion of work ability
Age-friendly work arrangements
Safe and dignified transition to retirement.
At its best, age management uses a life-course approach and creates equal opportunities for all age groups.
Examples of age management tools
It involves gathering information about the age ranges of employees. It helps measure age diversity in the workplace. The purpose of age profiling is to help strategic planning and decision-making on recruitment, retention, retirement competency and skills development.
The purpose of competency assessment is to identify the skills and competency gaps of workers for performance or development purposes. Competency assessment is a useful tool for succession planning and career development, and provides a basis for customised training and professional development. In the case of older workers it might mean adapting skills to new technological changes, facilitating internal job moves, or providing other career opportunities.
It was developed by the
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
to measure individual workers’ work ability. It is a questionnaire that evaluates work ability based on the self-assessment of respondents. The aim is to identify what type of action is needed to prevent the decline of work ability.
Knowledge transfer tools
They help retain the accumulated expertise of older workers. Examples are:
- mixed-age teams
- mentoring and coaching schemes
Job rotation and redeployment
It can be used to reduce workloads and minimise the effects of stressful or physically demanding work, as well as giving older workers the chance to remain in employment that meets their capacities.