Does Work Contribute to Successful Aging Outcomes in Older Workers?

Abstract

Older workers are the fastest growing segment of the labor force, yet little is known about designing jobs for older workers that optimize their experiences relative to aging successfully. This study examined the contribution of workplace job design (opportunities for decision-making, skill variety, coworker support, supervisor support) to dimensions of successful aging (social network, emotional support, personal control, generativity) in a sample of 109 older workers in the retail homebuilding industry. Older workers completed four standardized tests reflecting the job design and successful aging variables. Results indicated that job design contributed to 23% of the variance in generativity and 15.5% of the variance in personal sense of control scores. Skill variety and coworker support were the most important job design variables for successful aging outcomes. The potential for workplaces to become social institutions that contribute to dimensions of successful aging is discussed.