Impact of the Older Workforce - Research Paper Example

GERONTOLOGY SUBFIELD IMPACT OF THE OLDER WORKFORCE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT Concerns have been raised as to whether it is appropriate for the economy to be controlled by the older generation. There are many reasons to support this fact that in deed older workforce are more productive compared to the younger generation. Extremely good work ethics displayed by the older workforce is just one of the many factors that make them more appealing to firms and organizations. All companies have come to realize that customer satisfaction is the most important factor when building a reputation or a brand. Older works connect more easily to customers because they have fantastic listening skills and have been consumers themselves for a long time and this puts them in a better position to attract more customers thus boosting the expected returns. Despite the major changes in the level of technology over time, it is worth noting that older workers already have a solid idea of what works and what doesn’t. They have years of real world experience performing their jobs that simply can’t be duplicated by classroom learning. Introduction Many questions have been raised as to whether the ageing workforce is more productive than the younger generation or whether the reverse is true. Apart from age, there are many factors that determine the productivity of workers such as level of education, physical capability, and level of technology among others. Age has a considerable influence on the level of economic production making it a key factor in national income determination. Some past research have proved that older workers are more productive than the young ones owing to the fact that they are more experienced since they have been practicing for a long time. However the main challenges is whether they are able to adapt to the changing and advancing technology levels in the production process. A look into the population structures of most developed countries indicates that the older people are more compared to the younger generation and as a result these economies are driven by older generation. The high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in these countries is a clear indication that the older workforce is more productive. As a subfield of gerontology, this paper aims at establishing if the ageing process has an impact on economic growth and development. Return on investment provides a good measure of productivity of workers and therefore it can be employed in order to establish returns from older generation. Low turnover ratio is witnessed in firms with many older people compared to those with young people. This is because older people are less likely to move from one firm to another as long as they are able to meet their basic needs. Thesis statement As the population grows older an increasing percentage of the workforce will be past age 60. Older workers are ordinarily thought to be less productive than younger ones, raising the question of whether an aging workforce will also be a less productive one. The question as to whether the older workforce has a positive contribution to the economic growth and development forms the basis for this research paper. Literature review Morris (1999) article aimed at finding out how long it takes for older people to succed in their job. He found out several reasons why older people are still hitting the road in their quest to find new jobs. Financial insecurity as well as uncertainty of future trends of the global economy drives many older people to seek for employment. The desire to have a well secure retirement backed with high financial package is the main driving force for people to work for a longer period of time. Older people spend less time well searching for newer jobs as they cannot keep up with the quick pace of having to move from one place to another as they pursue their search. Social security benefits are not able to sustain them for a long time which forms another motivating factor in job search. However not every one is entitled to social security benefits and therefore they must strive to accumulate enough wealth to sustain them at their old age. Older men are more likely to extend their job search compared to women due to their desire to remain the sole providers of their families. It is interesting to note that older workers who have responsibilities for dependent family members or kin are less likely to retire and withdraw from the labor force. For example, those with children often face dramatically increased family expenses when their children reach the college years and therefore they will have to remain in employment for a long period of time in order to meet the financial needs of their family members. Health factor provides another view in relation to job search. Most older people are likely to experience ill health and this tends to lower their morale to search for better jobs. Inflation rate also a role in determining the time taken during job search by the older generation. According to Philips curve, high inflation rate results in low unemployment. As the level of inflation increases in the economy, the time taken by older people to find new jobs is likely to go down due to increased job opportunities. Another research conducted by Lissenburgh (2003) aimed at addressing the brain drain currently being witnessed in the health sector argues that retaining older nurses is prior to addressing the challenge. It reasons that such nurses have a lot of wisdom and do not require training as opposed to the younger generation which must be trained for a long period of time and at times may fail to practice as they seek to other ventures other than nursing. Retaining older nurses is very beneficial for most health service provides since they are able to offer training to the upcoming nurses thereby ensuring smooth transition at the work place. Hospitals also are aiming at reducing replacement costs which include human resources expenses for advertising and interviewing, increased use of traveling nurses, overtime, temporary replacement costs for per diem nurses, lost productivity, training, and terminal payouts. This indicates the need to maintain the older nurses who are believed to be more productive and very easy to cope up with. The mentoring process which is usually informal is more productive since it allows for transfer of knowledge from one generation to another which cannot take place in the formal training set up. The process initiates and expands career opportunities thus increasing the productivity of firms over a long period of time as well as their leveraging the knowledge of older workers to their advantage. Phase retirement in which older nurses retire gradually, is being applied by some organizations in order benefit fro their knowledge without straining them. In order to retain and attract the older nurses, hospitals have been forced to change their physical working conditions such as providing them with comfortable seats and making use of quicker techniques in service provision. These are aimed at increasing their productivity and granting them a longer working life. The baby boomers are more likely to work simply because they enjoy their work or are forced to do so for financial security due to unpredictability in the economy. Specifying who is and who is not an older worker remains elusive. The answer to the question depends on the context under which it is applied. Not surprisingly, policy makers in the United States, business leaders, academics, and older adults tend to determine the age of older workers in different ways. Some argue that the age at which one becomes an older worker seems not to be related to biological age but instead to it is related to concerns faced by workers at various points in their life spans as well as their productivity. Recent studies shows that having the option to continue to participate in the labor force can have important positive health consequences for older workers. Quality jobs may benefit employees’ physical and mental health, making it less likely that they will experience certain conditions that can accelerate the aging process thereby contributing to people working in their late years (Shea, 2006). At the same time it is a matter of fact that business leaders as well as organizations are often concerned about how to maximize the effectiveness of the transitions made by older workers. For example transitions to new positions, to different ways of structuring their jobs such as reducing the hours that they work, or to full-time retirement. Employers also want to develop mechanisms for older workers to share expertise and knowledge with their younger colleagues before they fully retire from their active position. To be the most effective, the employer and employee will need to work together to develop options that meet the concerns of older workers and the workplace (Leibold, 2006). Basically, the older employee who is above 40 years will want a friendly work environment where he can use his past experience and skills learned to be a worthwhile, respected member of the organization.  He enjoys tutoring and helping others at the same time learning new skills.  He enjoys flexible schedules, health care insurance benefits and achieving long term goals.  Possibly the only drawbacks in this older group is some are not equipped to handle extremely physical jobs and are not as technical savvy as their younger peers.  It is true that some Information Technology companies do not hire anyone older than 40 (Cappelli, 2010). Summary and Conclusion The expectation that older workers will reduce average productivity may be fueled by the perception that the aged are less healthy, less educated, less up-to-date in their knowledge, and more fragile than the young. While all these images of the elderly are accurate to some degree, they do not necessarily describe the people who choose to remain employed at older ages. From the above cases, it is evident that older workforce is more productive than the younger generation and therefore efficient employers will take advantage of this reliable, cost effective workforce.  As much as it may cost the companies more in the health field, but much less money put out on training programs, excessive absences, and leave of absences such as for maternity.  Another study proved that doubling the work force of over age 55 employees only raised compensation costs by a mere 1%.  It bodes well for an employer to know that his competent, reliable employees are happy, and there will be less turnovers and better production thus a major boost to the economies that are struggling from recession. Therefore hiring older works is a great move for any company as well as the economy in general. There is certainly no shortage of them with the baby boomer generation hitting 65 at an alarming rate. These days people are working longer and holding off retirement as long as possible especially in the United States. Workers have more to give than ever before and should not be shuffled to the bottom of the resume pile based on age assumptions. Some firms worry that hiring older workers is more expensive than hiring fresh grads hungry for their first job. But keep in mind, pay isn’t based on age, it’s based on experience. However they need to realize that if they are paying more for experience then they are also getting efficiency and results in return. References Cappelli, P., & Novelli, W. D. (2010). Managing the older worker: How to prepare for the new organizational order. Committee for Economic Development., & Morris, S. (1999). New opportunities for older workers: A statement. Washington, D.C: Committee for Economic Development, Research and Policy Committee. Leibold, M., & Voelpel, S. (2006). Managing the aging workforce: Challenges and solutions. Erlangen [Germany: Publicis. Lissenburgh, S., & Smeaton, D. (2003). Employment transitions of older workers: The role of flexible employment in maintaining labour market participation and promoting job quality. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. Shea, G. F., & Haasen, A. (2006). The older worker advantage: Making the most of our aging workforce. Westport (Conn.: Praeger. Read More