Exit Strategy
An aging workforce begs the question, 'should they stay or should they go?'
Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s advanced years have taken center stage this summer, and now—with Biden withdrawing from his re-election bid—employer concerns about our nation’s aging workforce are receiving greater scrutiny.
LONDON AND NEW YORK—For the past few weeks, many Americans and others around the globe have been witnessing President Biden's apparent decline following his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump on June 27. Biden’s most recent display of frailty was widely reported last week, as he exited Air Force One.
On Sunday, amid mounting pressure from key members of his own party and many voter polls to withdraw, the 81-year-old Biden—in a moving letter— finally acquiesced, announcing his withdrawal from the presidential race. He subsequently threw his support behind his vice president, 59-year-old Kamala Harris, who would be the first female person of color and GenXer to hold the highest office if elected.
Biden's decision was very nearly inevitable, as his chances to defeat Trump imploded and the odds of a Republican landslide victory increased. However, his announcement on Sunday was nevertheless a stunning moment. “In an instant, Democrats were liberated from an issue, Biden’s age, that had hung like a millstone around their necks,” journalist Peter Wehner wrote in The Atlantic shortly after Biden’s announcement. “…What was looking like a rout is now a race.”
Yet what might have also been looking, in the political arena, like the troubles of one man, one office, Biden’s withdrawal has pushed some of the simmering concerns long-held by HR professionals about the elderly population boom and emerging longevity economy into wider public view and debate.
“Companies are having conversations about all of this, which is a positive sign,” says Tracy Murdoch O’Such, the Global Managing Partner for Media, Entertainment and Sports for the Diversified Search Group in New York. “…Ideally, an individual will ‘self-select’ when it’s time to stop working,” she added, “but that is rarely going to be the case when someone gets into a top job, because the ego can be so much bigger among those in a senior position.”
“…What’s the role profile for someone who can no longer run the company but who is still valuable?” O’Such adds. “…I do sincerely believe that President Biden made his decision under pressure but also because he saw the need to put his country first.” Ideally, she added, a CEO for a company who is staying on too long will also “recognize the limitation in continuing, and for the betterment of the firm, step down before there has to be an intervention.”
Changes Needed
Is it time now—policy-wise—to redefine what constitutes worker fitness for various types of employment and more aggressively redesign workplace culture for the needs of an expanding multigenerational work force?
Many HR professionals say yes. The Pew Research Center says that today, nearly one-fifth (19%) of adults 65 and older are employed, compared to nearly one-tenth (11%) in the 1980s—with many more 65-plus workers expected to enter the workplace over the next 10 to 15 years.
“At issue is the assumption that age is the determining factor of fitness. I can tell you with authority that it isn’t,” explained Tracey Gendron, Chair for the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Gerontology and author of Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How to End It. “Age and ability, while related, are not predictive of one another. One of the more difficult challenges I face as a gerontologist is helping people separate these two things.”
Chris Pantelidis, Managing Partner and Global Practice Leader for EMA Partners in New York, an international executive search and leadership advisory firm, says this challenge is shared by recruiters. “On one hand, you have the Biden example, and on the other hand, you have people sharp as a tack at 75, 80, 85—and yet at the same time, many companies are still tending to paint everybody with the same brush,” Pantelidis says. “As soon as (companies) hear somebody’s age, they tend to say, ‘Oh well, they’re over the hill.’ Or they ask, ‘How many years do they have left?’ Or, is this individual going to bring the value we need into the organization, and for how long?’”
This needs to change, Pantelidis says. It’s time to take a broader look at the talent pool—and focus more on working hard to build work cultures that not simply attract value by bringing in new talent, but can help to retain and recruit top talent held by more experienced workers who are also critical to a company’s success. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor projected that the number of people over 75 would be the fastest-growing demographic in the labor force, nearly doubling over a decade, and those over 65 would grow by more than a third. The youngest cohort — those aged 16-24 — would contract by 7.5%.
“The reality of the situation we’re in today,” Pantelidis says—and particularly in fintech and at Silicon Valley companies—“is that you don’t want to lose seasoned people and their intellectual property and the experience that someone has of working on a variety of continents, or has attained while holding a variety of C-level jobs across many different companies. … Once I start to look at the criteria skillset that we are looking for in (tech) CEOs and Board Directors, you can’t possibly have that long list of skills and experiences unless you’ve been in the work force for 30 or 40 years.”
New Strategies
Some new programs are already being tested, especially those which acknowledge the different needs of all generations now in the workforce. “In Silicon Valley, we used to attract younger workers with foosball and free food. Now, as they’re getting older, there are also small libraries, lounge areas, in-office movie theaters and gyms,” Pantelidis says. “We’re hearing stories about organizations making it possible to stay overnight like in a hotel setting, so workers have all the creature comforts of home.”
Other shifts being tested to better accommodate older workers in ways also attractive to all employees include:
Bio-hacking. What some strategic human resource officers are looking for from a health and wellness perspective, says Pantelidis, is “what can we do to add value to the workforce we employ which might need some additional assistance as far as enhancing one’s cognitive abilities, lifespan and abilities to work longer?” In a recent interview, he said “bio-hacking”—the term used to describe methods being used today to enhance the body’s performance and potentially extend lifespan—”is a huge focus right now for people working in their 50s, 60s and 70s in Silicon Valley.” Bio-hacking, he says, asks Are you physically fit? What are you putting into your body? Some companies are programming some new kinds of health programs “to help older workers stay healthy enough to maintain their physical and cognitive abilities much longer.”
New roles. Some companies are creating mentoring programs led by its older and retired workers. Other companies, including some universities or philanthropic foundations, are experimenting with creating “emeritus” titles for workers who wish to stay on and continue to represent the company at industry events and, in some cases, to fill an advisory board seat, as able, until it’s time to go. “The emeritus role is an interesting idea and a way to keep a founder or someone who has been the CEO for some time to slow down but remain relevant and play to their strengths,” O’Such says. Microsoft has teams of mentors comprised of older current or former workers on hand to offer part-time help to younger workers just starting out.
Shorter hours. It may be time for employers to rethink the typical 9-to-5 and 40-hour work week. Pantelidis says that at many tech companies, it’s common for the average executive to work 12, 13, 14 hours a day and again on the weekends. “That’s great when you are in your 20s and 30s, but is that really realistic for someone in their 50s or 60s, and do they even want to do that? Or, if you’re 75 and you bring 5 solid hours into a day, does that equal what a 30-year-old can do in 12 or 13 hours, because you just have that much more wisdom as an older person on the IP side—and you’re that much wiser and more worldly?”
The Change Gap
But are these new approaches inclusive enough—or getting rolled out fast enough? Not yet, says Gendron.
According to a 2022 Transamerica Retirement Research, despite these apparent age shifts in the workforce, only 28% of employers surveyed had any training on generational differences and age discrimination.
Older workers also are frustrated with the pace of change. Age discrimination claims filed with the Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are on the rise. The EEOC reported 17,205 claims in 2022 and 20,566 in 2023, a 31% increase. According to a 2022 AARP Research survey of 2,945 people age 50 and older, an overwhelming 9 out of 10 respondents (91%) said age discrimination against older workers is common in the workplace today.
“We’re at a transition point,” Pantelidis says. “We have one foot in the old way we used to do things and another foot in a new work world where we think we ought to be able to do things better, to change how companies do workforce planning and create new work cultures. It’s going to take a while and not happen overnight.”
And it also won’t happen easily, especially when it comes to helping beloved older workers map out when it’s best to leave.
Political analyst, author and and lawyer Van Jones said on CNN shortly after Biden announced he would not run for another term: “Joe Biden’s language skills may not be as strong as they used to be, and his body may not be as strong as it used to be but his heart is as big and as true and as strong as ever. … He made a selfless decision that was heartbreaking. It’s kind of like your grandpa, when you’ve got to take the keys. He’s fighting and fighting and everybody is getting so frustrated. But then when you finally get the keys back, you just cry. Because this is somebody you love and care about … and yet you have to take something from him.
“…All of us are going to be in this situation some day,” Jones said—and added later, “It’s why we need to change the way we design the work we do, so we can find and keep valuing one’s highest point of contribution, way longer than how we do it now.”
Know some new programs in your workplace or industry that are creating new ways to better value, accommodate and retain older workers? Please comment and share!
@Marcia Stepanek - brilliant and insightful article. The data does not lie, we’re in a time of transformation especially with respect to age in the workplace. This is a piece for Global CHROs to digest and consider in their succession strategies. Well done!