In an era where people in the West are living longer and healthier lives, older workers not only can – but often choose – to remain in the workforce longer or return to work post-retirement.
The numbers speak for themselves. In the UK, over 50s now make up nearly one third (31%) of the entire workforce, up from around one in five (21%) in the early 1990s. In the US, two age groups – 65 to 74 years old and 75 and older – are projected to have faster annual rates of labor force growth than that of any others.
A consensus is emerging that if we are to benefit from the value that older workers can bring to the workforce, businesses will need to adjust their hiring practices and rethink their commitment to things like flexible hours and re-training programmes. So too will our concept of education need to evolve, to place even greater emphasis on life-long learning and multi-generational classrooms.
But to do this, we we will also need to rethink the sorts of skills these workers need if they are to remain “fit for purpose” in this changing workforce..and how to obtain them.
Read the rest of this post over at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing blog…
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