Measurement of ability of older workers.

Abstract

As the birthrate declines and average lifespan lengthens, the ageing of society has become a serious problem in Japan. Today, people must work to a more advanced age than in the past. It is thus important to know the physical and mental abilities of older workers. Many of the current employment tests involve very difficult tasks or very fast motions designed to select excellent young workers. Such tasks and motions are rarely required in the actual work situation. Older workers are slower in movement than the young and they also differ in physical and mental abilities. The vocational evaluation test originally intended for disabled persons was used to investigate in detail the working ability of individual older workers.