Aging of the American Workforce: Trends,

Opportunities, Challenges

1. Why WIA/One-Stops Should Pay Attention to Older Workers

2. Why Employers Should be Concerned

IMPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYERS

• The country is growing older, and the workforce along with it

• As the baby boom reaches retirement age, there will be fewer young adults entering the workforce to replace them

• These trends will have economic and productivity consequences, putting a strain on business/industry

• Continuous work at some level (ft/pt) - increasingly important & desirable for older people and society as a whole

GROWING OLD IN AMERICA TODAY

• Radically different than it was for previous generations

• Today: healthier, better educated, more willing to work into the later years

• Chronology = Competence

To stay competitive as new sources of labor become scarce, employers must not overlook this talented and largely untapped employee base

The U.S. Workforce is Aging

• Baby Boomers come of age• 30% of Americans are boomers (83 million)

• By 2025 20% of Americans will be 65+

• By 2005: • median worker age 41

• workers 45+ will comprise 40% of the workforce

• Workforce will continue to age through 2015 oldest boomers begin to retire

The Economy is Hot[or at least luke-warm]

• Local labor markets extremely tight

• 1998-2008: BLS projects 14% increase in employment

• Pay scales driven higher; benefit packages increasing

• Companies beginning to look to new sources of labor supply

RETIREMENT TRENDS

• Growing indication the early retirement trend is leveling off

• Growth in jobs/declining unemployment creates demand for all workers

• Increasing popularity of bridge jobs (gradual retirement)

LOW-INCOME BOOMERS

• 9 million boomers (today aged 35-54) did not graduate from high school

• incomes 12% lower than for similarly educated persons in their parents’ generation

• US will soon see an increase in the number of poor, aging adults

• As the tail of the “bulge” reaches age 45, low-income mature workers will soon increase by 25% [from 8 to 10 million]

ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES

• Dependency ratio• 1950: 7 working age persons to 1 elderly person

• 2030: ratio will dwindle to less than 3 to 1

• Increasing work participation rate of older Americans would:

• add to the productivity of the workforce

• alleviate strains on the US economy

• increase private saving and reduce the burden on public resources through higher tax revenues

DEMAND FOR OLDER WORKERS

• As workers retire, the economy loses valuable work experience

• Improvement in work-readiness of young workers needed to meet ever-higher skill requirements of the economy cannot be taken as a given

• Older workers are productive, reliable, trainable, with a high work ethic and customer service focus

NECESSITY OF LIFELONG LEARNING

• Key factor to productivity (of all workers) is skill level and training

• For most mature Americans there are few physical or cognitive barriers to work and learning new skills

• Employers and workers must both work towards closing the technology training gap

Age & Income Affect Training Needs

Common stereotypes portray older workers as:

• Harder to train

• Less able to keep up with technological change

• Less promotable

• Less motivated

Older Workers are not a Homogenous Lot

Different needs … Different strategies

• Dislocated workers

• Women [displaced homemakers]

• Low income

Training Implications

• Training for older workers needs to be slowed down• Vision and hearing changes require attention• Older workers prefer less formal seating

arrangements• Training proceeds better in comfortable classroom

environments• Shorter sessions are more effective• The training class is best when kept small

Some Things to Remember

• Older people perform better on self-paced tests than they do on timed tests

• When both words and pictures (graphics) are used, older persons can retain 6 times more information

• It’s much easier for older people to see yellow, orange & red than darker colors

• Greater levels of illumination are needed (an average 60 yr. old’s eye admits only as much light as a 20 yr. old)

The Training Process

• Training focus should be on the gains of experience

• Older workers learn what they think they need to learn

• Trainees need help with self-confidence and self-esteem issues

• Older trainees value non-verbal rather than verbal training

• Adults learn by doing• The training process should be slowed

down --- self paced learning works best• Training should have ample opportunities

for practice• Testing should be used sparingly• Relate training to skills already

possessed

Adults Learn by Doing

Method• Lecture• Reading• Audio Visual• Demonstrations• Discussions• Practice

(experiential)

Average Retention Rate

5%

10%

20%

30%

50%

75%

Barriers to Labor Market Participation

• Government policies and practices– Financial incentives to retire

– Health care

• Public/Private Employer policies and practices

– Age stereotypes

– Pensions

– Training and retraining

• Individual barriers– Rapid technological change (new occupations/skills)

Promising Program and Practices

SCSEP (Title V of the OAA) is a viable One-Stop Partner to Meet Demographic Needs• 100,000 served, 35,000 placed annually• Outreach & recruitment• Counseling• Assessment, IDP development• Subsidized work experience & training• Job development & placement

Working Together to Meet Goals

As a partner, SCSEP can ...

1 Provide training to One-Stop staff to prepare them to better serve older workers

2 Ensure specialized assistance is available for older workers to effectively utilize the One-Stops [staffing strategies]

3 Ensure One-Stops accommodate the special needs of older workers

4 Assist One-Stop job developers to include job opportunities for older workers

5 Ensure One-Stops have necessary linkages & partnerships to ensure availability of specialized training for older workers

6 System linkages to facilitate access to support services needed by older workers

7 Assist One-Stops with an outreach & recruitment plan that includes older workers and minority older workers

8 Assign project participants to serve as mentors to school-to-work and welfare-to-work participants

9 Provide employer linkages

An Older Worker Policy Makes Good Business &

Political Sense

Demographic and Economic Imperative:• Employers facing labor force drop-off due to

retirements will have to adapt in some way

Political Imperative:• Extending work lives may help reduce

younger workers’ burden supporting retirees (Social Security & Medicare)

The SCSEP as your partner can assist you in meeting the needs of older job seekers.

NEED FURTHER INFORMATION OR

ASSISTANCE?

OLDER WORKER PROGRAMMING RESOURCES

DoL/ETA Technical Assistance Guides Using the Workforce Investment Act to Serve Mature and

Older Workers

One-Stop Training Curriculum for Older Worker Specialists

Different Needs, Different Strategies: A Manual for Training Low-Income Older Workers

An Employer’s Guide to Older Workers: How to Win Them Back and Convince Them to Stay

SCSEP WEBSITE: www.wdsc.doleta.gov/seniors

OLDER WORKER PROGRAMMING RESOURCES

To obtain (free) copies of Technical Assistance Guides, contact:

David RichardsonUS Department of Labor, D/OWP200 Constitution Ave., NW Rm N4644Washington, DC 20010

• Phone: 202-693-3757• Fax: 202-693-3818