Age Management as a Tool for the Demographic Decline in the 21st Century: An Overview of its Characteristics

Jan Fabisiak,Sergiusz Prokurat

doi:10.7341/2012846

Abstract

This paper sets out to study recent developments in the relatively new area in management theory - Age Management. First the general labor and financial market conditions are specified which have led to the growing need of an age-oriented strategy for employment in the company. Next the concept of Age Management is defined, both from the macro, enterprise-level and individual perspectives. The next section studies the benefits derived from implementing Age Management for the company and its employees, followed by a section on specific Age Management tools and measures. The penultimate section explores the prerequisites for successful implementation. This paper finds that Age Management as a concept is gaining ground, predominantly in managing and retaining near-retirement-age workers. Concluding, we find that there is a significant need for more comprehensive Age Management and effective Age Management measures to maintain firms’ and economies’ competitiveness in the face of demographic decline.

Highlights

The predominant European social models and welfare-state arrangements work on the assumption of indefinite population expansion, largely conceived in the post-war period, the developed world is currently facing the prospect of insufficient fertility rates and ageing societies
Population ageing and falling fertility rates have been treated as a threat in Western Europe for the last 20 years (Liwiński and Sztanderska, 2010)
According to a study conducted on EU workers, 6% of workers from the 15-24 age group and just under 5% from the 55+ age group were exposed to age discrimination at the workplace, constituting the two most vulnerable age groups (Villosio et al, 2008)

Summary

Introduction

The predominant European social models and welfare-state arrangements work on the assumption of indefinite population expansion, largely conceived in the post-war period, the developed world is currently facing the prospect of insufficient fertility rates and ageing societies. Population ageing and falling fertility rates have been treated as a threat in Western Europe for the last 20 years (Liwiński and Sztanderska, 2010). According to Walker, the two decades between 1995 and 2015 are seeing a significant fall in younger and middle-aged populations and a large increase in the older age groups (2005). The challenge of an ageing workforce seems to be characteristic of developed countries such as the UK, Germany or France. Demographic statistics indicate that developing countries, including Poland, will soon face the same problem

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