Older Workers Are GOOD For Business

Earlier this week, I was reading an article entitled, “Redesigning Retirement” that was published in the March/April 2024 issue of the Harvard Business Review.

Written by AgeWave’s Ken Dychtwald, Robert Morison, and Katy Terveer, the piece juxtaposes our country’s current staffing shortage with the number of older adults looking to and for work, debunks numerous ageist stereotypes (read: myths) frequently ascribed to older workers, promotes ways America’s employers can more effectively engage and reap the benefits of hiring/retaining older workers, and sheds light on a few employers that are “leveraging age diversity” to strengthen their workforces.

As I progressed through the article, I found myself thinking, “Yes, Yes, YES!” because, not surprisingly, everything the authors had to say made absolutely perfect sense.

Which is why at the same time, I also found myself wondering, “Why, Why, WHY?” are so many of us having to work so hard to convince employers—in so many different business sectors—to hire us?

Here are a few of my takeaways from the article:

THE VAST MAJORITY OF OLDER ADULTS ARE OPEN TO WORKING EITHER FULL- OR PART-TIME DURING “RETIREMENT”—some because they need to, and others because they want to. In fact, per the article, “Working longer has also been linked to lower mortality and greater well-being, in no small measure because it enables people to stay mentally, physically, and socially active and purposeful.”

HIRING OLDER WORKERS MAKES GOOD BUSINESS SENSE. I could go into the lengthy list of reasons the authors give to back up this claim, but my guess is most of the people reading this post already know what they are—and then some.

THE NEGATIVE ASSUMPTIONS MANY EMPLOYERS MAKE ABOUT OLDER WORKERS—that we’re out of touch, set in our ways, slow to learn, struggle with technology, taking jobs and opportunities from younger workers, and cost more—ARE PROVABLY UNTRUE.

EMPLOYERS WHO ARE NOT INCLUDING AGE AS PART OF THEIR DEI STRATEGIES ARE MISSING THE BOAT—because age diversity is about more than age. Workers from different age groups have different ways of thinking—and actually LIKE working with and learning from and about one another.

But perhaps my favorite takeaway from the article is this:

EIGHTY-THREE PERCENT OF AMERICANS 65+ SAY THAT FEELING “USEFUL” IS MORE IMPORTANT TO THEM THAN FEELING “YOUTHFUL.”

And while I’m not yet 65, I can absolutely vouch for that. Feeling youthful is not necessarily something we can control—but feeling useful is.

So to all the employers out there experiencing staffing shortages, I say HIRE US. It’s not only good for us, it’s good for business.