the Gerontological Society of America. He has been on the editorial boards of the journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, Psychology of Aging, and currently is on the board of Generations (published by the American Society on Aging).
See also Graphic: Percentage of Economically Active Adults Aged 50 and Over in the United States and Additional Resources Related to Aging and Work
An Interview with Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes and Michael A. Smyer
By Judi Casey and Karen Corday
Casey: Why is aging and work one of the defining issues of our time?
Pitt-Catsouphes: We feel that the handwriting is on the wall with regard to the importance of the issues of aging and work. There are several factors that have contributed to this situation.
First, from a macro perspective in terms of social and economic policy, our society is actively re-assessing the effectiveness and sustainability of the systems we have established. Some of these systems may reflect values, such as devoting the retirement years to full-time leisure, which no longer fit with the expectations and preferences of today’s older workers, particularly when compared with the older workers of fifty years ago.
Secondly, as a cohort of individuals, the Baby Boom generation is making different kinds of plans in their late careers than people from earlier generations. The Baby Boomers have had a history for starting trends, and society has adapted to their preferences and decisions. The Baby Boomers are constructing the concept of the “retirement job.” Fifteen years ago, people would have called this term an oxymoron, but that is no longer the case.
Finally, employers who anticipate possible workforce gaps and shortages are now participating in conversations about engaging older workers. In the past, raising the issue of older workers could be a real discussion stopper because there was a mindset at the workplace that workers started to “transition out” once they crossed over a certain threshold at 50, 55, 60, 65.
Smyer: I agree. I would sum it up by saying that individually and organizationally, the aging of our society has changed our expectations regarding work and retirement. This requires individuals and organizations to reassess their assumptions. With the leading edge of the Boomers turning sixty this year, the saliency of the issue has increased.
Casey: What is the link between aging and workplace flexibility?
Smyer: The link is individual preferences and organizational effectiveness. When you ask older workers what kind of work they want, they talk about flexibility, either in terms of time, place or duties. One of the challenges for workplaces in an aging society is how to improve the fit between what older workers want and what organizations offer. If they’re effective at that fit, businesses will become employers of choice not only for older workers but for all workers.
Pitt-Catsouphes: We have tried to define flexibility as offering choice and control not only to employees, but also to their supervisors and employers. Often times, there are implicit and explicit rules within the workplace about what’s possible. If a worker of any age wants to discuss the possibility of change or variation in their job with their employer, it is too often perceived as a giveaway or accommodation for the worker. Flexibility can actually empower both the employer and employee. We feel that this kind of flexibility has the potential to not only provide opportunities for older workers, but also to be a catalyst for the kind of change that’s good for the workplace as a whole.
Casey: What is the purpose of the Center on Aging & Work/Workplace Flexibility and how is it different from other centers on aging?
Pitt-Catsouphes: First and foremost, the Center was established as a research center. However, it’s unique in that we are engaging in research that will have relevance to decisions being made at the workplace. As a consequence, although the focus is on research, a second purpose is providing high quality, evidence-based information to businesses and other individuals that have an interest in positive organizational change. We feel that we must pursue both of these goals simultaneously. We wouldn’t be satisfied with just a series of high quality research reports; it’s important to drive the information back into the workplace. The whole structure of our Center reflects this mindset. In addition to the traditional research Advisory Committee made up of researchers and academics with expertise in this area, we also have engaged a group of corporate partners. These partners have challenged us from the beginning in a very positive way about the importance of certain questions and where gaps may be in our research.
Smyer: We bring business partners into the development and implementation of research projects that are of interest to employees. We do this explicitly through our SENIOR Advisors. SENIOR stands for Sloan Employer Network Informing Organizational Response. As Marcie said, an important part of what makes us distinctive is having corporate partners involved in all phases: proposing the research questions, carrying out the research, and sharing the findings with the business community. This gives us a competitive advantage and will make our research more effective.
Casey: What are some of the research projects you have planned?
Pitt-Catsouphes: We started with nine projects funded by our grant from the Sloan Foundation. About half are what we consider secondary analysis. We have several social scientists from many different disciplines who are very familiar with conducting research using very large data sets collected by other people, often the government. The other half of the Center’s research consists of projects we have designed where we are collecting our own data. We are now conducting an additional four studies, for a total of thirteen.
Let me provide you with some examples. One of our studies, the Boston College National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development, has two phases. The first phase looks at early adopters—companies that have recognized the needs of older workers for years. The second is a representative sample of numerous companies. We’re hoping to have our findings by June.
An economist is working on a second project that looks at the relationships between health care costs and the employment of older workers and whether these costs act as facilitators or barriers to the employment of older workers. She’s looking at variations in the mandates that different state statutes require for insurance and whether the required coverage of certain procedures affects older workers’ employment rates across the country.
Jackie James of Boston College and Jennifer Swanberg from the University of Kentucky are working on a third project that is examining corporate culture and the extent to which different values and attitudes at the workplace impact perceptions, decisions, and access to and use of flexibility options.
Those are just three examples; all of our studies in progress are listed on our web site. We are trying to explore very different perspectives and angles to better understand the experiences and decision making around older workers.
Smyer: One of the strengths of our research is that our researchers employ several different methods. One focus is secondary analysis—trying to capitalize on already existing data sets. For example, our first few studies were analyses of the Families and Work Institute 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce. We drilled down and looked at the diversity of older workers and found a wealth of information when we analyzed their data on workers aged fifty and up. We reported the findings in December and tied them to the opening of the White House Conference on Aging, a once a decade event. At that conference, issues of older workers and the aging workforce were ranked as a very high priority just behind strengthening Social Security. This is one of the themes of our secondary analysis—there’s a lot more information available than people have time to examine during the initial data collection and analysis.
Another example is our work with the Health and Retirement Study. Tay McNamara, an expert on the HRS, is conducting a series of studies using this data. The first study examines the relationship between workplace flexibility and volunteering. It’s an interesting question; one of the reasons that people want flexibility is to pursue other interests at this point in their lives. Tay has found some interesting results about the impact of workplace flexibility.
Joe Quinn and his colleagues are investigating the concept of bridge jobs. The big news is that the concept of traditional retirement—going from full-time employment to full-time leisure—is now the exception rather than the rule. This is the value of being able to use secondary data and take a long look over an extended period of time.
Casey: How can workplaces be responsive to the needs of the aging workforce?
Pitt-Catsouphes: Employers who are asking what they can do to be responsive are at the front end of this wave, and they’re looking for some data to help them make decisions. As Mick said, we’re just now approaching the possibility of a large number of Boomers retiring, but most workplaces still have not developed effective responses. If employers anticipate labor force shortages, they should be thinking about this today—they don’t have five years to get ready. For instance, some employers who are working with the Center say that 35% to 40% of their workforces may retire within the next five years. For that reason, we feel it is important to provide quality information to employers now.
Smyer: Europe and some countries in Asia are ahead of us in the aging of their workforce. The OECD has done some work on aging and work in Europe; there are lots of lessons to be learned from other countries that have been examining these issues for a while.
Casey: What kinds of projects do you have planned outside of research?
Smyer: We have a conference coming up: "The Aging of the Workforce: Competitive Advantages or Vulnerabilities?" The focus of the conference is a working session with researchers and business leaders on how to be responsive to an aging workforce.
Pitt-Catsouphes: We hope that the conference will not only contribute to our research agenda, but that it will also help the corporate practitioners articulate and envision an agenda for future practices.
Smyer: Our Research Advisory Committee will be participating as well. This is a group of about a dozen colleagues and organizations who are active in researching aging and work. We have people from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AARP, and SHRM as well as individuals such as Phyllis Moen and Michàlle Mor Barak. Also, Marcie has been asked to edit a special issue of Generations, a publication of the American Society on Aging, focusing on aging and work. There will be lots of crossover between the special issue and the conference.
Pitt-Catsouphes: We’ve really made an effort to collaborate with a wide range of organizations. We’re working very closely with Workplace Flexibility 2010 at the Georgetown Law Center as well as other people who have expertise in policies that impact the experiences of older workers and employers.
Casey: What’s the most innovative practice you’ve heard about at the workplace to respond to the needs of older workers?
Pitt-Catsouphes: A lot of what organizations are doing is consistent with their other work-life initiatives, ranging from flexibility around hours, schedules, place or job redesign. Another innovation is the extent of the flexibility of benefits. At different career stages, different benefits are more or less important to workers. The familiar cafeteria benefits plan concept is being revisited. Newer combinations of time and place flexibility can also provide creative solutions. Two retail chains—Borders and Home Depot—allow workers to work part of the year in one location and part of the year in another. If people want to be closer to home or closer to a facility where a loved one is being cared for, having these kinds of choices can be very important.
Smyer: The most innovative thing I’ve seen is a culture that values the contributions of older workers and finds a way to make those contributions possible beyond traditional retirement age. At MITRE, they have developed a program that employs older workers on a project-by-project basis; they often hire retired workers back as contractors.
Casey: Are organizations focusing on knowledge transfer?
Pitt-Catsouphes: It comes up around mentoring programs.
Smyer: I just heard about a utility company working with a community college to train linemen. This is in response to the aging workforce and the lead time needed to attract a younger group of workers to that particular role. The company provides internships that formalize the knowledge transfer from the older workers to the new generation of workers.
Visit the Center on Aging and Work/Workplace Flexibility’s web site at: http://www.bc.edu/agingandwork.
To contact Marcie, please e-mail: pittcats@bc.edu.
To contact Mick, please e-mail: smyer@bc.edu.
See also Graphic: Percentage of Economically Active Adults Aged 50 and Over in the United States and Additional Resources Related to Aging and Work
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