As employers continue to put more emphasis on diversity and inclusion in the workforce, one area that can often be overlooked is age-inclusion. It is a growing pool of talent, as recent data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the fastest rates of labor growth are in the age groups 65 to 74 and 75 and older.
Tapping into this growing workforce either through new hires, or by supporting your current employees in this age range has many benefits to your corporation including:
- Mixed-age teams outperform both exclusively young and exclusively old teams, as they combine the energy and speed of the youth with the experience and wisdom of age.
- The older generations tend to be more financially stable than the millennials.
- The 50+ population are more resilient than younger generations, with 55% maintaining a positive outlook on life compared to younger generations at 37%.
- More loyal and less likely to jump jobs.
Though many of these experienced employees have intentions on working longer, data from the Health and Retirement study show that 37% of workers indicate that they had to stop working sooner than expected.
The number one reason for early retirement? Health Issues.
Both worsening health conditions and new health conditions contributed to a limitation on ability to work.
What can you as an employer do to support your aging workforce, prevent early retirements due to health issues and continue to benefit from the wisdom and positive outlook they bring to your corporation?
Support employee health.
There are many ways to tackle this but preventing physical inactivity during the workday and beyond when possible is one of the most effective. According to Hopkinsmedicine.org, physical inactivity leads to greater risk of:
- Developing high blood pressure
- Developing coronary heart disease
- Anxiety of depression
- Certain cancers
- Falls
- And decreases the ability to complete daily activities.
Ideas to decrease physical inactivity in the workplace include encouraging walking groups, onsite fitness classes/equipment, policies that allow walking breaks, standing desks, or wellness programs centered activity tracking with wearable devices.
Organizations can benefit greatly from retaining older employees in the workforce for as long as possible through purposeful inclusion of resources and programs that span across generations.