The Aging Workplace - It's Not Just Ergonomics Or Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Love Me, When I'm 64?

摘要

For many years, the goal of the American employee was to retire early and spend a few years in carefree retirement enjoying the fruits of a long career, more often than not with a single company. The "Baby Boomers" who will start turning 62 this year no longer have their "father's pension plan." This is just one of the reasons that employees are staying on the job longer or may entirely switch careers as they approach what many used to believe was the "expected retirement age" of 65. This lengthening of the working career presents both challenges and opportunities to the business community. A look at the changing demographics of the workplace and public policy decisions are impacting forever the nature of older workers in our places of business. In the past, many employees looked forward to a pension plan that was designed, funded and administered by their employer. They knew that at the end of working career, they were guaranteed a monthly check, which in many cases, increased to meet the rate of inflation. This income, in addition to the monthly checks received from the federal Social Security System, was usually enough to allow the retiree to live comfortably for the 10 to 15 years that they expected to live from retirement at age 65. The American Association of Retired People noted that between 2000 and 2020, the number of individuals between the ages of 55 to 64 will increase by nearly 40 percent and those above the age of 65 will also increase by more that 40 percent (AARP).