Lots to say but little to see : managing the ageing workforce

This paper describes pilot research into one discrete segment of the Australian labour market to investigate what is being done to maintain, retain and sustain an ageing workforce. While it is commonly assumed that the main challenge the baby boom generation poses for society is in terms of services such as healthcare and superannuation, there is another less tangible but no less real challenge: the loss of critical organisational knowledge and skills. Combining interviews, document analyses and focus groups, the results of the pilot study reveal a high awareness of the external economic perspective of the ageing population but low awareness within their own workforce. The results imply that we have a long way to go proactively managing older workers.