This is a guest post by Don Atwater, PhD, practitioner faculty of economics. It is a companion piece to Dr. Atwater’s GBR article, “Where Do Older Workers Go?”
Don Atwater, PhD
At the World Ageing & Generations Congress 2008 in Switzerland last month, I had the opportunity to talk to many people about older workers. John Martin, OECD Director for Employment, Labour & Social Affairs spoke about a “conundrum” :
Why don’t employers recognize that ageing is an important labor supply change process that needs a timely response?
My response was that the demographers assume that labor supply changes drive changes in labor demand. But a case can be made that businesses are creating new business models around new technologies and innovative ways of keeping up the dynamic markets and competition. These changes are supported by emerging financial plans but few if any have up-to-date workforce plans for workers of all ages. The older worker issue is part of a bigger problem with workforce planning in business. It is broken.
What do you think? Continue reading ‘Thoughts from the 2008 World Ageing & Generations Congress’
