Aging and Work: Issues and Implications in a Changing Landscape

by Sara J. Czaja, Joseph Sharit

Overview

Both jobs and the workforce have changed dramatically in recent years. Manufacturing has given way to a technology-driven, information-based workplace. People are working until later in life and the pool of workers is growing more diverse. Flexible hours and telecommuting are increasingly common. This volume addresses the challenges confronting an aging labor force as it deals with profound shifts in employment and organizations and what these changes mean for society.

Drawing from the varied fields of gerontology, psychology, public policy, occupational health and safety, human factors engineering, and business, the contributors summarize what is known about aging and employment, discuss likely future issues, and raise specific questions for researchers and policy makers to address to prepare places of employment and the workforce for a vastly different tomorrow.

The first section explains employment and demographic trends from an academic perspective and includes information about altered work patterns among older employees. The second section provides both public policy and business-oriented views on how to better integrate aging employees into the workplace. In the third section, the contributors explore how technology, new employment practices, and entrepreneurship play into the new and evolving nature of work. Section four examines employers' expectations for older employees, and the fifth section assesses current ergonomic standards and the adjustments necessary to accommodate an aging labor pool.

This multidisciplinary, comprehensive assessment of the state of aging and work addresses a wide range of topics relevant to academic researchers and practitioners, government and industry leaders, and workers and managers in the public and private sectors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801892738
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sara J. Czaja is the director of the Center on Research and Education for Aging and Technology, co-director of the Center on Aging, and a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Miami.

Joseph Sharit is a professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Miami.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors
Foreword, by Richard Suzman
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Emerging Challenges for Organizations and Older Workers in the Twenty-first Century
Part I: Employment Patterns and Demographics
Chapter 1. Institutional and Individual Responses to Structural Lag: The Changing Patterns of Work at Older Ages
Chapter 2. Caregiving and Employment
Chapter 3. Aging and Work: An International Perspective
Part II: Implications of an Aging Workforce
Chapter 4. The Politics of Work and Aging: Public Policy for the New Elders
Chapter 5. Implications of an Aging Workforce: An Industry Perspective
Part III: The Changing Nature of Jobs
Chapter 6. Trends in Job Demands and the Implications for Older Workers
Chapter 7. Telework and Older Workers
Chapter 8. Collaborative Work: What's Age Got to Do with It?
Chapter 9. The Issues and Opportunities of Entrepreneurship after Age 50
Part IV: Work Performance Issues
Chapter 10. Managers' Attitudes toward Older Workers: A Review of the Evidence
Chapter 11. Work and Older Adults: Motivation and Performance
Chapter 12. Skill Acquisition in Older Adults: Psychological Mechanisms
Chapter 13. Preparing Organizations and Workers for Current and Future Employment: Training and Retraining
Chapter 14. Age and Performance Measures of Knowledge-Based Work: A Cognitive Perspective
Part V: Workplace and Ergonomic Issues
Chapter 15. Ergonomic Design of Workplaces for the Aging Population
Chapter 16. Safety and Health Issues for an Aging Workforce
Chapter 17. Work Organization and Health in an Aging Workforce: Observations from the NIOSH Quality of Life Survey
Chapter 18. Health Promotion and Wellness Programs for Older Workers
Conclusion. Synthesis and Future Directions
Index

Editorial Reviews

A comprehensive, well-written volume addressing the numerous issues created by the interface of an aging workforce with the array of economic, global, information and technology-driven changes occurring in society. The conclusion provides an excellent summary of the volume and an outline of needed future directions for research and policy changes. This insightful volume will be of particular interest to researchers and practitioners concerned about the complex issues surrounding work and an aging population.
—Choice

From the Publisher

A comprehensive, well-written volume addressing the numerous issues created by the interface of an aging workforce with the array of economic, global, information and technology-driven changes occurring in society. The conclusion provides an excellent summary of the volume and an outline of needed future directions for research and policy changes. This insightful volume will be of particular interest to researchers and practitioners concerned about the complex issues surrounding work and an aging population.

Choice