The allure of an older workforce is great: employers get experience, stability, dedication and employees with a desire to work. “If you think of the costs of employment, turnover is a big cost. And we find that although our normal turnover for all our employees is nine percent . . . for our senior employees, age 50 and over, it's only six percent,” Carl Gustafson, head of human resources at Baptist Health South Florida, told MSNBC.

Baptist Health South Florida, recently pegged by AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, as one of the top employers for older workers in the U.S., isn’t alone. According to MSNBC, statistics back up the BLS estimates and Gustafson’s assertions. Employment for workers ages 20 to 54 has remained flat in the past year while employment for workers ages 55 and above has increased by five percent. Additionally, workers are retiring later and staying productive longer. A 2002 poll of American workers between the ages of 45 to 74 by AARP found that less than a third of Americans plan to stop working when they reach “retirement age.” The challenge now for the workplace is to keep up by allowing older workers to achieve their full potential through workspaces designed to accommodate them.

Physically, older workers face a variety of time-induced limitations that may include failing eyesight, hearing, flexibility and dexterity, and slower response times and back problems. The body itself starts to age at 30 and the eyes show signs of aging between 40 and 50, but workers may still plan to contribute effectively for another 20 years or even more. Between the ages of 60 and 64, there are only 89 males for every 100 women; after age 80, 53 men remain for every 100 women. And strength and height become issues for almost every aging worker.

For workplace designers, that means creating work environments that cater to aging eyes, tools that require less strength to operate, and workspaces positioned at heights appropriate for an aging body. Some professions, like teaching and nursing, may benefit most from ergonomics interventions since both fields are predominantly female, are aging, and are currently facing shortages of employees (currently, 21 percent of teachers in the U.S. are between the ages of 50 and 59). Older workers are both a viable and valuable commodity in the workplace.

AARP agrees. Deborah Russell, manager of AARP’s Economic Security/Work section, told MSNBC that with 78 million baby boomers approaching retirement age, industries like healthcare and retail are already focusing on hiring and retaining older workers. “By virtue of their sheer numbers, absolutely, employers have no choice but to really look at [older workers] ... as a continuing pool of resources that they might need in the future,” Russell said. And that means more than just offering the older worker a job – it means making the work and the workplace fit the worker through ergonomics.

Sources: MSNBC; The Ergonomics Report