The Future of Work Is Grey: The Untapped Value of Age in the Workforce

Leadership consultant Pontefract (Work-Life Bloom) delivers a well-researched exploration of how aging populations are influencing the labor force. By 2032, he explains, Americans age 65 and older will comprise 8.6% of the workforce—a 31% increase from 2022. This demographic shift has profound implications, Pontefract warns: young workers will be in short supply and high demand, middle-aged workers will be stretched thin training younger workers and replacing senior leadership, and older workers will be a necessity as companies won’t be able to afford to nudge them into retirement. Longer life spans, declining birth rates, and compromised social safety nets mean more older individuals will have to work. There are ways to combat what Pontefract calls the “Age Debt”; Zurich Insurance Group, for example, introduced flexible arrangements and job-sharing programs that allow older workers to continue their careers without maintaining a full-time workload. The key, Pontefract explains, is to integrate the skills and wisdom of seasoned employees into a company’s strategy. Like many business book authors, Pontefract relies on somewhat clunky metaphors (younger, mid-career, and senior workers are, respectively, “Rivers,” “Rocks,” and “Rubies”), but these are minor irritants given his thorough research and frank discussion of ageism. Business leaders should heed this timely call to embrace the changing workforce. (May)