Summary: Aging Of The Workforce

As innovations and technological advances continue within the workplace, and people’s views constantly change, it is with certainty that we know organizations will evolve with the change in times and ideals in order to remain competitive with their respective markets, the larger environments in which organizations operate are in a state of constant change (Muller.2015). In this century, organizations cannot expect to be successful without an understanding of and response to changing trends. Furthermore, organizations no longer employ one set of manufacturing processes, retain the same loyal employees for long periods of time, or develop a traditional way of structuring how work is performed, and responsibility assigned. In the next ten years,

A main consequence of said attitudinal changes is a skills shortage involving a war for talents in a marketplace focused on concurrent cost, productivity, and quality. Aging of the workforce creates a number of challenges for employers. Older workers are frequently viewed as being more resistant to change, specifically when it comes to implementing radically new programs and using new technology that go against the traditional ways of doing things. Managing the knowledge of aging workforce is a major challenge, primarily for firms in industries that require state of the art or expert knowledge and skills. Whenever an expert retires or receives a promotion, the risk of losing his or her knowledge concerning what skills are needed to fill his or her position is great. In addition to the loss of expert knowledge regarding technical, manufacturing, or administrative issues, there is a risk of losing valuable personal social networks connects. Another challenge of an aging workforce is their health and education expenses. Older workers may have increased healthcare costs compared to their younger colleagues. The longer older workers remain in the workplace, fewer

2011). “The Center for American Progress and The UC Hastings College of the Law reported that 90% of U.S. mothers and 95% of U.S. fathers report work-family conflict. Seventy percent of American children live in households where all adults are employed and nearly 25% of Americans care for elders. Federal policy does not provide specific supports for working parents; the United States lags behind the 30 industrialized democracies in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in its support of working families.” The increased incidence of single-parent families and dual-career couples creates issues around child and elder care, relocation, and parental stigma where employees, particularly with managerial employees. This issue is extremely important to women, who are entering the workplace in mass numbers, and fathers who are pressing employers to accommodate family life. Although women are disproportionally affected than men, fathers are stepping up and demanding action as they find it particularly challenging trying to balance work and family, and an increasing number of men want to become more involved in the lives and upbringing of their child (ren). 53 percent of men expressed that the benefit they most desire is a flexible work schedule and 82 percent view employers