TITLE: THE TREASURE TROVE OF THE AGING WORKFORCE

Abstract:
Based on the case study “the Treasure Trove of the aging workforce, I am going to discuss and analyze the changes in employment relations that may occur as the population ages. I am also going to discuss challenges that age diversity creates for managers, challenges organizations encounter while building a diverse workforce. I will also examine policies that may lead to charges of age discrimination and how they can be changed to eliminate these problems. I will also discuss the importance of having a diverse workforce.

INTRODUCTION.
Over the past century, the average age of the workforce has continually increased as medical science has continued to enhance longevity and vitality. In the United States, in 2008, 18% of its labor workforce was 55 years old and above and projected that it will increase to 23% in 2018 ( Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright 2011).
The civilian participation rate for U.S. workers over age 59 for example, has increased from approximately 22 percent in 2002 to 29 percent in 2012, and 93 percent of the growth in labor force from 2006 o 2016 will be from workers over age 54. For another, U.S. legislature has outlawed mandatory retirement. Most workers today no longer have to retire at age 70 and 62 percent of those aged 45 to 60 plan to delay retirement. (Stephen, Timothy, 2014 Pg. 46).

What changes in employment relationships are likely to occur as the population ages?
As the population ages, employers' attitude towards older workers is going to change for the better. Although there is widespread believe that older workers are underperformers, research has shown otherwise. In our text Organizational behavior pg. 46, it was realized that researchers scanned more than 100 publications on age discrimination to determine what type of age stereotypes were most prevalent across studies. They found stereotypes inferred that older workers are lower performers. Research, on the other hand, indicates they are not, and organizations are realizing the benefits of this needed employee group.
Organizations are most likely going to modify jobs so as to suit the aged. Most aged workers will have families and time spent with them is very important to then, hence companies will have to make policies that allow full time older workers able to do part time jobs so as to enable them blend work and family.
As the workforce ages, organizations will have to engage former workers as private contractors to keep tapping their rich expertise and experience. The U.S. Navy for example in so many years have engaged a large number of its retirees in getting certain specialized jobs done where the current employees lack the requisite skills and expertise needed for that job. Organizations may also have to reduce working hours for such older employees and give them a more flexible schedule to attract them stay longer and also more training is required for such older workforce to keep abreast with new technology, management issues and organizational changes.

Do you think increasing age diversity will create new challenges for managers? What types of challenges do you expect will be most profound? Increasing age diversity will continually pose a great challenge for managers to deal with. Older workers will have to be well motivated to be kept around which might be very well challenging for management. Employers should find out exactly why older employees are still working and what their goals are for their remaining working years. Older employees should be treated just as younger employees.

What types of policies might lead to charges of age discrimination, and how can they be changed to eliminate these problems?
Firing older workers based on the assumption that they do not perform just as younger employees is a huge discriminatory act which happens quiet most often at workplaces. Organizations can employ strategies such