Productivity Of Older Workers Research Articles

Do older workers really reduce firm productivity?

AbstractIn this article, we examine the effect of workforce ageing on company productivity, using an analysis based on Korean firms. We found that an increase in the ratio of workers aged over 50 years to total workers had a negative effect on value added per worker, which was consistent with the findings of most previous studies based on European data. However, the results of the analysis, including various classifications such as size, industry and several financial conditions, revealed that an increase in the ratio of older workers had positive effects on value added per worker in large manufacturing firms under risky or growing conditions. As the productivity of older workers may vary, future research may determine under what conditions – size, industry, region and financial conditions – older workers contribute positively to productivity. Firms with financial troubles or those planning to downsize should be cautious about laying off older workers as an approach to improving organisational performance because these workers contribute positively to productivity under certain conditions.

Productivity enablers and inhibiting health and wellbeing practices of South Australian construction site-based workers: a qualitative study

This study is aimed at analyzing the perceptions of South Australian construction site-based blue-collared workers on the enablers and inhibiting health and wellbeing practices, establish their impact on the physical abilities, safety performance and overall productivity of older workers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 construction practitioners. Content analysis and associated techniques of word frequency analysis and coding were used for data analysis. The findings showed some consensus on the factors affecting the health and wellbeing practices with obesity, smoking and higher alcohol consumption among the risk factors and prevalent lifestyles among the workers. The ‘weather’ was identified among the highly ranked physical factors affecting productivity. The study also established the higher prevalence of health and, mental issues, injuries and recreational usage of drugs among the workers. Solutions are proposed for overcoming the identified inhibiting practices. This study was the first research to investigate the perceptions of South Australian construction site-based workers on the enablers and inhibiting health and wellbeing practices and associated consequences among older workers within the South Australian construction sector. The findings of this study offer insights in terms of creating awareness of the degrading health and well-being of construction workers, in particular, the ageing workforce.

Secular Stagnation? The Effect of Aging on Economic Growth in the Age of Automation

Several recent theories emphasize the negative effects of an aging population on economic growth, either because of the lower labor force participation and productivity of older workers or because aging will create an excess of savings over desired investment, leading to secular stagnation. We show that there is no such negative relationship in the data. If anything, countries experiencing more rapid aging have grown more in recent decades. We suggest that this counterintuitive finding might reflect the more rapid adoption of automation technologies in countries undergoing more pronounced demographic changes and provide evidence and theoretical underpinnings for this argument.

Secular Stagnation? The Effect of Aging on Economic Growth in the Age of Automation

Several recent theories emphasize the negative effects of an aging population on economic growth, either because of the lower labor force participation and productivity of older workers or because aging will create an excess of savings over desired investment, leading to secular stagnation. We show that there is no such negative relationship in the data. If anything, countries experiencing more rapid aging have grown more in recent decades. We suggest that this counterintuitive finding might reflect the more rapid adoption of automation technologies in countries undergoing more pronounced demographic changes, and provide evidence and theoretical underpinnings for this argument.

Arbeidskosten en productiviteit van oudere werknemers

Labor costs and productivity of older workers: The view of Dutch employers in a European perspective Labor costs and productivity of older workers: The view of Dutch employers in a European perspective Perceptions about labor costs and productivity play an important role in the way employers behave towards older workers. This study addresses two main questions: What do employers see as possible consequences of an ageing workforce in terms of labor costs and productivity? And what organizational policies do European employers apply and consider in order to decrease labor costs or to increase labor productivity? To answer these research questions, we analyzed surveys administered to a total of 5,822 employers in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The results show that a considerable share of employers associate the ageing of their staff with a growing gap between labor costs and productivity; this is especially an issue in the Netherlands. ‘Employers expecting a larger gap do not more often apply organizational measures to adjust the cost-productivity balance, for instance, by means of training plans or demotion, although they more often seem to consider demotion. On the contrary, employers expecting a larger pay-productivity gap are more likely to apply early retirement schemes and accommodative measures. We conclude that organizational policies do not seem to be aimed at tackling a growing expected wage-productivity gap yet.

The effects of wage subsidies for older workers

Population aging in many developed countries has motivated some governments to provide wage subsidies to employers for hiring or retaining older workers. The subsidies are intended to compensate for the gap between the pay and productivity of older workers, which may discourage their hiring. A number of empirical studies have investigated how wage subsidies influence employers’ hiring and employment decisions and whether the subsidies are likely to be efficient. To which groups subsidies should be targeted and how the wage subsidy programs interact with incentives for early retirement are open questions.

Training and wages of older workers in Europe.

The financial deficits of many social security systems caused by ageing populations and stagnating economies are forcing workers to retire later from the labour market. An extended working life, combined with rapid technological progress in many sectors, is likely making older workers' skills obtained in school obsolete. In this context, lifelong investment in training is widely recognised among the international research and policy community as a key element to increase or at least limit the decline in productivity of older workers. This paper investigates the relationship between training undertaken by European older workers and their wages, relying on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. There is no evidence of training wage premium for older workers residing in many European countries including Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Very high premiums are instead found for Austria, Germany, Greece and Italy. It is, however, likely that these high premiums are overestimated due to training endogeneity and sample selection bias.

Training and Wages of Older Workers in Europe

The financial deficits of many social security systems caused by ageing populations and stagnating economies are forcing workers to retire later from the labour market. An extended working life combined with rapid technological progress in many sectors, is likely making older workers’ skills obtained in school obsolete. In this context, lifelong investment in training is widely recognized among the international research and policy community as a key element to increase or at least limit the decline in productivity of older workers. This paper investigates the relationship between training undertaken by European older workers and their wages, relying on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Undertaking training activities is associated with 6.3% higher wages. This premium is sizeable and is similar to that of attaining an upper or post-secondary degree instead of a primary or lower-secondary degree. Training wage premiums are highly heterogeneous across countries: they are highest in Austria, Germany, Greece, and Italy and are about half that in France and Spain. No premium is found for Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Training premiums of the first group of countries can be overestimated due to training endogeneity and sample selection bias.

Population aging, older workers and productivity issues: the case of Singapore

This paper examines the issues and challenges facing the productivity of an aging society in Singapore. While the older workforce is recognized as an increasingly essential labor supply in the era of rapid demographic aging, there are challenges to the employment of older workers, including employers’ negative stereotypes of older workers and concerns with labor productivity, as the current cohort of older workers in Singapore tends to be less educated, and many are employed in low-skilled jobs. The paper follows with a discussion of the measures adopted by the state to encourage, enable and enhance the employment/re-employment and productivity of older workers. Such measures include the enactment of re-employment legislation, training and financial grants for companies to put in place the re-employment policies, skills upgrading and work training programs to enhance employability of older workers and the promotion of age-friendly workplace. However, under the shadow of an inevitable decline in labor forc...

Will You Still Need Me: When I’m 64?

For various reasons the relationship between age and productivity is a matter of policy concern. I present new empirical research showing how productivity is affected by age. I study age effects at the individual level by analyzing data on running and publishing in economic journals. Furthermore I present empirical evidence at the firm level on the relationship between age, wage and productivity. In particular I address the potential wage-productivity gap that might occur at higher ages. I conclude that the productivity of older workers indeed decreases with their age. Nevertheless, the decline is limited. Furthermore, I find no evidence of a pay-productivity gap at higher ages.

Dealing with older workers in Europe: a comparative survey of employers' attitudes and actions

This article addresses employers' attitudes and actions regarding the position of older workers. A comparative survey among employers from four European countries — Greece, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom — is used to examine their expectations with respect to the ageing of the workforce, the productivity of older workers and their recruitment and retention behaviour regarding this cohort. The results show that in spite of the perceived challenges ahead (including the ageing workforce), employers take no substantial measures to retain and recruit older workers or improve their productivity. Only employers in the United Kingdom seem to recognize older workers as a valuable source of labour supply and act accordingly.

Will You Still Need Me - When I'm 64?

For various reasons the relationship between age and productivity is a matter of policy concern. I present new empirical research showing how productivity is affected by age. I study age effects at the individual level by analyzing data on running and publishing in economic journals. Furthermore I present empirical evidence at the firm level on the relationship between age, wage and productivity. In particular I address the potential wage-productivity gap that might occur at higher ages. I conclude that the productivity of older workers indeed decreases with their age. Nevertheless, the decline is limited. Furthermore, I find no evidence of a pay-productivity at higher ages.

Will You Still Need Me - When I'm 64?

For various reasons the relationship between age and productivity is a matter of policy concern. I present new empirical research showing how productivity is affected by age. I study age effects at the individual level by analyzing data on running and publishing in economic journals. Furthermore I present empirical evidence at the firm level on the relationship between age, wage and productivity. In particular I address the potential wage-productivity gap that might occur at higher ages. I conclude that the productivity of older workers indeed decreases with their age. Nevertheless, the decline is limited. Furthermore, I find no evidence of a pay-productivity at higher ages.

Employment of Chinese older workers in Hong Kong: Cultural myths, discrimination and opportunities

In a Chinese society, there are a number of important cultural beliefs which govern the relationship between age and employment. For example, there is a traditional cultural saying that older people are but a treasure of the family. Other similar cultural norms suggest that to be old is to enjoy the fruits of one’s offspring, to be nurtured by one’s sons, and to be cared for by one’s daughters (and also daughters-in-law). The ideology of the family as an extended unit supported and legitimized the notion of retirement, although this is by no means a Chinese concept. However, all these cultural blessings have also served to set a fundamental barrier for Chinese older people in contemporary Hong Kong who would like to continue to work beyond their retirement age. Discriminatory beliefs and negative stereotypes about the images and productivity of older workers are prevalent amongst some employers, which serve to legitimize the exclusion of older people from the labour market. Social dissatisfaction and political tensions which should have arisen from the exclusion of older workers, however, are blurred by the selective maintenance of Chinese cultural norms. In this article, authors Chiu and Ngan attempt to analyze the social and cultural bases of discriminatory practices affecting the employment of older workers in Hong Kong. Cultural bases for the production and maintenance of stereotypes are explored with particular reference to Chinese values and norms. Opportunities and constraints in relation to individual and collective empowerment for older workers are examined, based on a Program Evaluation Study in 1994–1996 on the Retraining and Employment Service For the Elderly sponsored by the Employment Retraining Board in Hong Kong.

Health and productivity of older workers.

The purpose of this paper is to present a summary of a critical review of the literature on age, health, and work. The health of older workers is a concern to the extent that the productivity of older workers is considered to be a function of age-related health, the general conclusion being that age-related declines in health inevitably lead to decreased productivity. This paper investigates the implications of age-related physiological and psychological changes on the productivity of older workers, by focusing on a critical examination of the ways in which productivity has been conceptualized and operationalized. This paper concludes that the emerging concept of "work capacity" has the greatest potential for addressing the productivity issues of workforce aging. Implications for public and corporate policy and for further research are also examined.

Employer-Initiated Job Terminations

Recent interest in pension reform and mandatory retirement has led to a considerable body of literature on job separation. The analysis has, however, focused primarily on the employee's reasons for, and reaction to, job separation. Much less attention has been paid to the theoretical factors influencing the employer's decision to terminate a person's employment.' Much of the debate centers on questions concerning the productivity of older workers. Representatives of the elderly not only argue that members of their constituency want to continue to work but that they are highly productive. The implication is that if employers terminate older workers it must reflect employer discrimination against equally productive but older workers. Becker [1], however argues that the case for discrimination is weak. Competitive markets would lead to nondiscriminating firms driving out the discriminatory firms. Furthermore, since employers will someday become old they are less likely to discriminate on the basis of age than other factors such as race or sex. The implication is that if older workers are being terminated this must reflect that their productivities have dropped below their wages. This paper explores the relationship between productivities and compensation paid by a nondiscriminatory employer who terminates older workers. The analysis yields answers to the following questions. At what point will a firm decide to terminate the employment of a person embodying the employer's investment in specific training? If productivities vary with age, how does the productivity of an older (terminated) worker compare with that of a younger worker? Have older workers passed their peak productivity years?

Problems of Work in Advancing Age

“You made me what I am today, I hope you're satisfied” could be the theme of this paper. Although various measurements taken of people over their working life show a decline of certain psychophysical attributes and a relative stability of intellectual functions, the important determiner of work effectiveness appears rather to be the environment in which people work, including the preceptions management people have about the productivity of older workers.

Productivity of Older Workers

Productivity of Older Workers