Aging at Work: A Review of Recent Trends and Future Directions

Abstract

Demographic data suggest a rapid aging trend in the active workforce. The concept of aging at work comes from the urgent requirement to help the aging workforce of the contemporary industries to maintain productivity while achieving a work and private life balance. While there is plenty of research focusing on the aging population, current research activities on policies covering the concept of aging at work are limited and conceptually different. This paper aims to review publications on aging at work, which could lead to the creation of a framework that targets governmental decision-makers, the non-governmental sector, the private sector, and all of those who are responsible for the formulation of policies on aging at work. In August 2019 we searched for peer-reviewed articles in English that were indexed in PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and Springer and published between 2008 and 2019. The keywords included the following phrases: “successful aging at work”, “active aging at work”, “healthy aging at work”, “productive aging at work”, and “older adults at work”. A total of 47,330 publications were found through database searching, and 25,187 publications were screened. Afterwards, 7756 screened publications were excluded from the further analysis, and a total of 17,431 article abstracts were evaluated for inclusion. Finally, further qualitative analysis included 1375 articles, of which about 24 are discussed in this article. The most prominent works suggest policies that encourage life-long learning, and a workforce that comprises both younger and older workers, as well as gradual retirement.

An effectiveness and cost-estimation model for deploying assistive technology solutions in elderly care

“…Thus, assistive technology solutions in order to be effective need to contribute to various aspects of senior's life, i.e., material living conditions, health, education, productive and valued activities, governance and basic rights, leisure and social interaction, natural and living environment, economic and physical safety, and overall experience of life (Eurostat, 2021). In other words, these technologies should be designed to be personalized and satisfy multiple smart aging components which in combination contribute to multiple QoL dimensions, which then jointly accomplish the goal of senior's QoL (Barakovic Husic et al, 2020) .…”

Editorial: Quality of life improvement: smart approaches for the working and aging populations

“…Namely, demographic data suggests an increased need for workers worldwide and a rapid aging trend in the active workforce and in general also. This trend of workforce deficit and population aging will be even more prominent in the future ( 3 ). Statistics given by United Nations ( 4 ) say that by 2050 there will be 1.6 billion people aged 65 years or older (one in six people), while the number of people aged 80 years or older is growing even faster.…”

Work-family enrichment and successful aging at work: The China context

“…The increased number of older workers means the pressure for organizations to develop and utilize this group is becoming stronger. Besides, it is increasingly important to speed up the development of an inclusive and suitable human resource management system for older employees ( Barakovic Husic et al, 2020 ). Successful aging at work (SAW) has attracted wide attention from scholars in China and abroad since it is an important way to develop and utilize the elderly labor force in organizations actively.…”