A Glimpse Into The Future Of Work

As the number of workers that are entering the job market decreases and the life expectancy steadily rises, businesses are starting to place a focus on retaining their older workforce. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 60% of the workplace will be comprised of employees ages of 65 and up during the 2020-30 time period. The older workforce, which is mainly made up of baby boomers, are likely planning to retire in the near future. But with the current labor shortage, companies can’t afford to lose their employees and are starting to implement strategies to keep their older employees from leaving.

Benefits

Everyone values different benefits based on what stage they are in life. For employees who have just started their career, they may value PTO and a company 401k match. But for older employees, they value the flexibility of making their own schedule. According to a recent study published by the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, about 20% of employees 65+ surveyed that they would take a pay cut to have the flexibility to make their own schedule.

To incorporate a variety of benefits into an organization, some companies are looking at putting together a few different benefit packages for the employees to choose from. This allows an organization to be inclusive with their benefits, but also give their employees the flexibility to choose what type of benefits they want to receive.

Company structure

Having a purpose is critical, especially for older workers. Many employees that are near retirement want to shift their focus to tasks and projects that are less stressful and allow them to be more creative. To accommodate these needs, companies are implementing a plan that will breakdown one full-time job into two to three part-time jobs. With this plan in place, older employees are more likely to stay the workforce and the prior job responsibilities will still be completed.

Future of Work

Studies have shown that working longer positively benefits your mental and physical health. As time goes on, the average length of a career live will grow, and we will continue to see older employees making up a majority of the workforce. This WSJ article provides further insight on how businesses will continue to accommodate the needs of their older employees.

Retaining the older workforce is one challenge but recruiting for them is a whole other obstacle. If your business is struggling to recruit older employees, reach out to us for assistance: sales@therecruitability.com