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The Golden Age of Accessibility: How to make space for older workers on the job

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Aug 31, 2022

Introduction

In a rapidly evolving post-pandemic world, what it means to work has permanently shifted.

We’re living in the midst of a fourth industrial revolution — one of technological growth — and the COVID-19 pandemic has sent the workforce into a crisis. There are unprecedented job vacancies and displacements, both in skilled and unskilled labor.

Filling these vacancies could raise Canada’s GDP by over $100 billion.13

The key to mitigating our employment problem may lie in the hands of older workers. Our policies and norms communicate that the workplace is not for older workers — but rising flexibility means now is the time to change the narrative and help address our job vacancy crisis.

References

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  2. Akinola, S. (2021, May 20). How can we best engage older workers in reskilling efforts? World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/05/how-can-we-engage-older-workers-in-reskilling-efforts-jobs-reset-summit-ageing-workforce-longevity-upskilling/
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  12. Kaufman, A. S., Kaufman, J. C., Liu, X., & Johnson, C. K. (2009). How do Educational Attainment and Gender Relate to Fluid Intelligence, Crystallized Intelligence, and Academic Skills at Ages 22-90 Years? Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 24(2), 153–163. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acp015
  13. Langton, J. (2022, June 15). Children may be the future, but older workers are needed now | Investment Executive. Investment Executive. https://www.investmentexecutive.com/news/research-and-markets/children-may-be-the-future-but-older-workers-are-needed-now/
  14. Population of Older Adults Increasing Globally Partly Because of Declining Fertility Rates. (2021). PRB. https://www.prb.org/news/population-of-older-adults-increasing-globally/
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About the Authors

Janessa Pong's portrait

Janessa Pong

Janessa is a rising junior at the University of California, Los Angeles pursuing a BS in Cognitive Science with a Specialization in Computing, and minoring in Bioinformatics. She believes that psychology holds the power to ameliorate many of the world’s biggest problems, with climate change being one that she holds closest to her heart. It ultimately serves as a roadmap to why humans do what they do. Understanding this roadmap — our predispositions, biases, and instincts — are crucial to guiding people to make better choices for themselves, others, and our planet.

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Dan Pilat

Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.

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