This timely volume provides an up-to-date and comprehensive summary about what is known about aging and work and addresses the challenges and opportunities confronting older workers and organizations. The authors describe current and emerging topics related to work and aging adults such as working in teams, the increasing diversity of the labor force, work and caregiving, the implications of technology for an aging workforce, and health and wellness issues. The authorship is international; the authors are renowned for their respective work in the topical areas and represent a broad range of disciplines within academia, as well as offer perspectives from government and policy. Jobs, organizations, the labor market, and the workforce are experiencing dramatic change. Workers of all ages, including older workers, need to interact with the wide variety of ubiquitous technologies that are reshaping work processes, job content, work settings, communication strategies, and the delivery of training, and this book aims to update readers on the particular issues facing today’s aging adults in the workplace. The chapters’ broad and inclusive scope encompasses: Workplace aging and jobs in the 21st century The retirement income security outlook for older workers Population aging, age discrimination, and age discrimination protections Older workers and the contemporary labor market The role of aging, age diversity, and age heterogeneity within teams The intersection of family caregiving and work Current and Emerging Trends in Aging and Work is relevant to a broad audience of academic researchers, practitioners, and students in psychology, sociology, management, engineering (industrial and human factors), the health sciences, gerontology/geriatrics, and public health. It is also a useful resource for government and policy leaders, as well as workers and managers in the public and private sectors.

"The edited volume, Age and Work presents a systematic collection of key advances in theory, methods, and practice regarding age(ing) and work. This leading-edge collection breaks new ground by developing novel and useful theory, explaining underutilized but important methodological approaches, and suggesting original practical applications of emerging research topics. The book begins with a prologue by the World Health Organization's unit head for aging and health, an introduction on the topic by the editors, and an overview of past, current, and future workforce age trends. Subsequently, the first main section outlines theoretical advances regarding alternative age constructs (e.g., subjective age), intersectionality of age with gender and social class, paradoxical age-related actions, generational identity, and integration of lifespan theories. The second section presents methodological advances regarding behavioral assessment, age at the team and organizational levels, longitudinal and diary methods, experiments and interventions, qualitative methods, and the use of archival data. The third section covers practical advances regarding age and job crafting, knowledge exchange, the work/non-work interface, healthy aging, and absenteeism and presenteeism, and organizational meta-strategies for younger and older workers. The book concludes with an epilogue by an eminent scholar in age and work. Written in a scientific yet accessible manner, the book offers a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate students, academics in the fields of psychology and business, as well as practitioners working in the areas of human resource management and organizational development"--

Improvements in health care and quality of life in recent years have led to a marked aging of the world's population, especially in well-developed regions, in the near future, this problem will spread to developing countries. The growing need to promote the health and function of aging workers not only presents new challenges, but also provides exciting, new opportunities. The chapters in this book examine methods for diagnosing and evaluating work ability/employability in response to the changing capacity of employment. They set out the issues addressed by occupational health professionals to improve the work ability of elderly employees, and discuss measures to promote their employment. The book derives from a Conference on Aging and Work, held in Japan in September 2001. It will be of particular interest to professionals and students in the fields of occupational health, ergonomics, mechanical engineering, work physiology and industrial psychology. Book jacket.

The aging of baby boomers, along with the predicted decrease of the available labor pool, will place increased scrutiny and emphasis on issues relating to an aging workforce. Furthermore, future economic downturns will place strong pressure on older workers to remain in the workforce, and on retirees to seek employment again. Aging and Work in the 21st Century reviews, summarizes, and integrates existing literature from various disciplines with regard to aging and work. Chapter authors, all leading experts within their respective areas, provide recommendations for future research, practice, and/or public policy. This definitive source comprehensively reviews: trends and implications regarding the demography, income, and diversity of the aging workforce; the issue of age bias in the workplace; job performance, work-related attitudes, training and development, and career issues of older workers; and topics of age and occupational health, technology, work and family issues, and retirement. The intended audience is advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers in the disciplines of industrial and organizational psychology; developmental psychology; gerontology; sociology; economics; and social work. Older worker advocate organizations, like AARP, will also take interest in this edited book.

"The forces driving the first decades of the 21st century--globalization, technology, and unprecedented wealth mixed with jarring economic instability--are pushing the day of retirement later and later in life. The era of the aging worker is here. From the rice paddies of Japan to the heart of the American rust-belt, veteran international correspondent Joseph Coleman takes readers inside the lives of aging workers, exploring the factories, offices, and fields where they toil and the societies in which they live, giving the reader a front-row seat to the global older worker revolution. Profiles of individuals bring to life Coleman's exploration of how the United States--along with many countries around the world--deal with the rise of aging workforces. Throughout these stories, the author gives advice on how societies can best benefit from and assist their increasingly older population. Readers will come to know: --Michel Wattree, a retired French trucker who has found a second life as an elementary school bus driver and still nurses dreams of driving America's storied Route 66. --The aging crew of Japan's Yamashita Kogyosho, where for half a century they have crafted the world's fastest trains with their bare hands and hammers, exemplifies Japan's adaptive employment strategies that have helped the country deal with one of the oldest demographic compositions in the world. --Rita Hall, an unemployed hospital worker from Akron, Ohio, who hopes that a job training program will save her from spending the rest of her golden years in poverty-a fear shared by many who will far outlive their retirement savings. Amidst the stories of how these works are working hard to adapt, Unfinished Work probes the struggles of companies either unable or unwilling to accommodate the aging of their workforces and the quandaries of governments and policymakers eager to control pension pay-outs to retiring boomers, yet unsure how to keep them on the job. What emerges is a compassionate but clear-eyed portrait of a world in themidst of a slow-motion aging revolution that will have vast consequences for present and coming generations"--

Global aging, technological advances, and financial pressures on health and pension systems are sure to influence future patterns of work and retirement. This handbook offers an international, multi-disciplinary perspective, examining the aging workforce from an individual worker, organization, and societal perspective.

This multidisciplinary, comprehensive assessment of the state of aging and work addresses a wide range of topics relevant to academic researchers and practitioners, government and industry leaders, and workers and managers in the public and private sectors.