Keywords

5.1 Introduction

Population aging is a natural, irreversible, and global phenomenon. Estimates point out that from 2005 to 2050 , the number of individuals in the 65–79 years age group will increase to 44.5%, while the population of more than 80 years will rise to 171.6% (European Commission, 2006). In the United States, individuals of 65 years old or more accounted for 14.5% of the country’s population in 2014, and they are expected to double in 2060, jumping from 46 million to 98 million, i.e., a 22% rise (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2015).

According to the Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE, 2009), demographic aging is the tendency for the next 50 years in Portugal. In 2060, the country is expected to have about three old persons for each youngster, i.e., nearly 271 old people per each 100 youngsters will live in Portugal, which is more than the double of the figures forecasted for 2009 (116 old people to every 100 youngsters). The demographic aging process is associated to the consistent reduction of birth and mortality rates, late marriage, women’s emancipation and their greater insertion in the labor market , as well as increased life expectancy.

Population aging is a challenge mainly in the macroeconomic scope —due to increase of health and pension expenses—and microeconomic scope, because of the need to withhold a higher number of contribution payer workers to maintain the labor market (França, 2012) and avoid the loss of knowledge, competences, and experiences (Armstrong-Stassen & Schlosser, 2011). However, despite the evident need for keeping older workers in the labor market, corporations follow the opposite trend, i.e., reduce their presence in organizations (Hult & Stattin, 2009).

People’s age remains a metric to define employability rather than merit, competences, and tacit knowledge acquired. Scherbov and Sanderson (2016) propose the “perspective age ” to measure how elderly someone is, not only based on his date of birth but also in relation to the expanded average life expectancy. It means to say that 40 years old in 2000 could be compared to 30 years old in 1960, because they both share the same remaining life expectancy.

In Brazil, it is interesting to analyze the exceptional increase in life expectancy and the number of individuals in employment against the economically inactive ones (children and elderly). Between 1940 and 2015, the Brazilian life expectancy was added with 30 years for both sexes, raising from 45.5 years old to 75.5 (Portal Brasil, 2016). In the next 25 years, the country will conclude a demographic transition that took over 100 years in developed countries, as underlined by Tafner, Botelho, and Erbisti (2014). Moreover, Brazil had 199 million inhabitants in 2015, of which 22% were 0–14 years old, 66% were 15–59 years old, and 12% were 60 years old or older. Currently, there are 220 million inhabitants, but this population is expected to decrease from 2035 onward, and in 2035 it will be a country of 206 million inhabitants with the ratio of children falling from 22% to 9%, the population in working age will drop from 66% to 58%, and the elderly will virtually triplicate from 12% to 33% (Camarano, 2014).

Examining the work world, between 2004 and 2009 Brazil experienced an increase from 38.7% to 42% in the number of jobs occupied by people older than 40 years. In 2040, approximately 57% of the Brazilian population in working age is expected to be older than 45 years (PwC/FGV, 2013). These demographic transformations will make people work longer to compensate the shortage of skilled workforce and maintain the economy sustainable. However, the labor market should be prepared to receive the demands of professionals of different ages, especially if the social security reform proposed by the Brazilian government in December 2016 be approved. The economic crisis that besets the country, with fall in tax collection and successive primary deficits, increases social security expenses, opening the discussion about the need for yet another reform in 2017. Other reforms were made in 1998 and 2003, and one of the polemic issues suggested by the next reform is to set 65 years as the minimum age for retiring (Seidl, 2017).

The situation is also concerning in Portugal . According to the latest Portuguese Census (INE, 2011, 2014), the country is facing a phenomenon of double aging, i.e., youth is decreasing and elderly increasing, producing generation imbalance. The aging index in the country is 129, meaning there are 129 citizens of 65 years old or more per each 100 citizens of up to 14 years old. The aging rate between 2012 and 2016 is estimated to increase from 131 to 307 old people to every 100 young people, sharpening the difference between old and young populations.

The Law on Pensions Convergence established the same retirement age for the public and private sectors in Portugal: 66 years and 3 months old to enjoy full pension in 2016. The increased legal retirement age as well as the national pension system reform represents results of the Portuguese population aging. Moreover, the average life expectancy today in Portugal is 80.8 years for the total population, and at the age of 65 years, it is 19.6 years, according to data of the INE referring to the triennium 2013–2015.

The Observatory of Birth and Ageing in Portugal (Noronha, 2017) highlights that, according to a study comprising 1335 individuals of 35 years or older, around one third of the respondents would like to retire at the age of 63 years, on average. This shows different expectations that imply the need to find solutions to enable senior citizens to remain participating in the work world. A relevant datum of the study is that about 70% of the respondents said to have no savings for retirement, what will surely impact the sustainability of the Portuguese social security in the short and medium terms.

In Brazil, despite the actual demand for retaining older individuals in the labor market , this remains a controversial topic since until recent times several organizations encouraged early retirement to renew or downsize their staff (França et al., 2014). Moreover, in 2050 more than one fourth of the workers may be retired, although many of them are likely to decide to remain working (França, Menezes, Bendassolli, & Macedo, 2013).

A study conducted by Manpower in 2007 (quoted by Armstrong-Stassen, 2008) interviewed more than 28 thousand employers in 25 countries and showed that only 21% of the employers developed strategies to retain older workers. To cope with this situation, the European Union set as goal to governments, social partners, and organizations to increase the rate of older workers’ employment and the access to capacity building to allow healthier and more productive aging (Naegele & Walker, 2006).

In brief, the current rate of old population growth is one of the most remarkable traits of the recent demographic evolution, which impacts the working population composition (Armstrong-Stassen & Schlosser, 2011; Conen, Henkens, & Schippers, 2012). This situation represents a paradox as the economy and public policies require the population to work longer, but the organizations and the society are not prepared to deal with the increasing number of older workers. This chapter aims to present challenges and gains of work teams made up by individuals of different ages and the type of measures already adopted and that could be adopted in Brazil and in Portugal to prepare, attract, and retain older workers in the labor market.

5.2 Challenges and Gains of Work Teams Made Up by Older Workers

Organizations fear that worker aging could bring challenges such as higher costs with health plans and productivity losses. However, many of the disadvantages perceived by managers regarding teams made up by older workers are based on stereotypes. Scientific studies that disclose the actual challenges and gains of these professionals should be accessed to propose interventions based on such reality, fighting stereotypes about the performance of older workers to avoid losing the opportunity of employing many of the most competent and productive workers in the working population (Posthuma & Campion, 2009).

Making reference to different studies, Calo, Patterson, and Decker (2014) stated that positive stereotypes about older workers are related to interpersonal skills such as being more reliable and experienced. The negative stereotypes, in turn, have to do with the capacity and willingness to learn and grow in the work and their general motivation. The authors conclude that negative perceptions seem to be more disseminated than the positive ones. Research performed by França (2012) and Henkens (2005) found results similar to those approached in the subitem about ageism in this chapter.

New investigations focus on positive age-related aspects. For example, Ng and Feldman (2012) performed a meta-analysis based on a sample of 418 studies about six age-associated stereotypes (lower motivation, less interest for training and career development, less reliable, less healthy, and more vulnerable to work/family conflict). They found that the only consistence between stereotypes and the empirical evidence is that older workers are less prone to participate in training and personal development actions. This could be explained by the fact that sometimes the traditional classroom methodologies are not attractive and because older workers do not perceive any benefit in developing their careers.

The elderly-associated stereotypes emphasize they are conservative, solitary, unproductive, sick, depressive, weak, superstitious, slow, and lackluster, among others. There are also positive stereotypes of the elderly expressed by the belief that they are wise, mature, calm, careful, and happy, but these are less usual (Nelson, 2005; Neto, 2004). Truxillo, Cadiz, and Hammer (2015) have published a literature review where they present the physical, cognitive, affective, personality, and motivation changes that individuals undergo with age. Some of these changes can effectively be challenging when the person remains in the labor market . For example, regarding physical changes individuals lose visual and hearing acuity, as approached over 30 years ago by Skinner and Vaughan (1985), have their aerobic and cardiovascular capacities reduced, and take longer to recover from stressing situations.

Truxillo et al. (2015) reinforce that cognitive changes impact on selective attention, memory, and speed of information processing. At the same time, older individuals usually have greater emotional regulation and evaluate stressing situations in a less negative way. Moreover, the intrinsic reasons to stay in organizations are related to task performance, to connection with other individuals and autonomy, and to a lesser extent to extrinsic reasons such as benefits and promotions. The volition to help people and contribute to the society is another age-related change.

Previous evidence corroborates the functional or performance-based approach by assuming the variation of individual skills and way of working in all ages. As chronological age advances, individuals undergo a wide range of biological and psychological changes that pass by decline and the increase of experience, wisdom, and ability to judge. Health status, physical capacity, and cognitive performance are some of the functional approach indicators that should be retained (Kooij, De Lange, Jansen, & Dikkers, 2008).

The organizational age approach reinforces that age and seniority effects are closely related, considering that organization can age as a consequence of the average age of its workers. This brings new challenges to the people management area. However, Teiger (1995) emphasizes that not all professional groups are exposed to identical aging factors or working conditions. A worker of a given age may be considered too old to perform a specific professional activity or too young to perform another function.

The lifespan approach emphasizes the behavioral changes associated to the life cycle that could happen at any time of life and affect the aging process, namely, the interests, preferences, personal life circumstances such as family issues, or socioeconomic conditions (Baltes, 1997). Based on the ontogenetic and evolutionary perspectives, Baltes presented one of his most successful theories on life architecture involving the orchestration of three component processes, the SOC —selection, optimization, and compensation. He highlighted three principles that work simultaneously, suggesting that life becomes increasingly incomplete with age. The first one states that evolutionary selection predicts negative age correlation and, therefore, the genomic plasticity and biological potential decrease with age. The second emphasizes that human development growth requires cultural resources in increasingly higher levels. The third one, in turn, highlights that culture efficiency is reduced as age advances due to age-related losses in biological plasticity. To Baltes the positive balance between gains and losses at all age levels is ever harder as human development extents toward advanced elderly.

Other authors used Baltes’ SOC theory in organizations, including Sterns and Miklos (1995) and Baltes and Dickson (2001). The last focused on how the SOC could be applied to three organizational issues: (1) work/family conflict, (2) leadership, and (3) organizational operation. The authors introduced a wide range of hypotheses to be tested in future works using the SOC metatheory to promote a model that enables organizational psychologists to define and explain different psychological processes in organizational research, notably related to work/family conflicts, leadership, and organizational operation.

Von Bonsdorff et al. (2016), also inspired by Baltes’ (1997) SOC (selection, optimization, and compensation), recommend some practices to minimize losses resulting from aging in organizations. Following the model, the authors describe the strategies that corporations could use to fit their employees to business activities such as selection, optimization, and compensation to handle with limited resources such as time and energy, inherent to the human condition, and the selection of operational realms since some goals are not achievable. Selection concerns the development process, election, and commitment to personal goals. These goals must be organized in a coherent hierarchy that validates actions and gives guidance and meaning to life. In optimization people act on their goals, acquiring and investing in relevant means to achieve their targets to optimize the operational level and promote successful development. Compensation consists of responses to the individuals’ lost capacities and includes psychological processes or behavioral efforts to improve functionality, as well as the use of resources to sustain the operational level.

The next sections introduce and discuss studies, interventions, and practices implemented in several countries, in Brazil and in Portugal, as well as the most relevant topics to be incorporated to people management to meet the demands and requirements of such demographic scenario.

5.3 International Studies and Interventions

The international literature about aging in the organizational context has shown that programs to prepare/educate individuals for retirement represent one in a group of many management practices that could be applied to assist organizations and individuals to handle with workers in increasingly age breadth. However, changes on social security sectors and retirement ages all over the world urge thinking over age management and its meaning in the context of each country.

Peiró, Tordera, and Potocnik (2012) attempted to identify the human resources practices adopted by different countries in the world to retain senior workers. To that, they divided the countries in five groups: agreement (the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong), social democrats (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland), central Europeans (Germany, France, Holland, and Belgium), south Europeans (Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Greece), and economies in transition (Brazil, Chile, China, Mexico, and Russia). The liberal countries offer more diversified practices to retain older workers , while in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Poland, and Russia, less than half of the employers encourage their employees to continue to work. The European countries reported the highest rate of employers that encourage early retirement (19%), while the Latin American countries are ranked the second (17.7%).

A study conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound, 2006) points out a range of companies that apply best age management practices such as medical attention, working hours’ customization, opportunities to acquire new skills, and personal development. The adoption of age management practices is not only related to economic factors, productivity issues, and workforce offer but is also an important attraction for organizations. As disclosed in the study by Chiesa et al. (2016), the European Banking Federation underscored that programs aimed to older workers’ training and career are among their best human resources practice to promote the personnel’s employability level.

Despite this, when it comes to the development of policies for older workers, not all countries are sensitized about age management . Conen et al. (2012) and Chiesa et al. (2016) indicated that older workers in Italy—home to one of the oldest populations in the world—seem to receive insufficient investment by their employers. Van Dalen, Henkens, and Schippers (2010) carried out a study in several European countries, named “Activating Senior Potential in Ageing Europe (ASPA) ,” which approaches the managers’ perception about their workers’ aging and measures that should and could be adopted to cope with this challenge. According to the researchers, the reliability, engagement, and social skills were more frequently quoted in the older workers’ evaluation, while physical and mental capacity and technology skills prevailed among younger workers.

These characteristics were also observed in a similar study by França et al. (2014) among the Brazilian managers. However, the situation was different referring older workers’ management measures, as shown in the next section that presents some studies and interventions made in Brazil and Portugal that face aging process and urge changes to people management.

5.4 Studies and Interventions in Brazil and Portugal

Brazil and Portugal have followed and applied the concept of active aging proposed by the World Health Organization to optimize opportunities for health, participation, and safety in the sense of reinforcing quality of life as people grow older (WHO, 2002). The term “active” refers to the “continued participation in social, economic, cultural, spiritual and civic tasks, being not restricted to the capacity of being physically active to participate in labor activity” (WHO, 2002, p. 12) related to higher levels of autonomy, independence, and quality of life.

This scenario prompted Brazil to outline policies to ensure active aging and successful retirement (Camarano, Kanso, & Fernandes, 2013), such as the National Policy of the Elderly (Brasil, 1994) and the Statute of the Elderly (Brasil, 2003). To ensure healthy transition to retirement to these workers, the policies recommend organizations to adopt retirement preparation programs (Programas de Preparação para Aposentadoria or PPAs ).

According to the national and international literature, the PPAs are an important measure to prevent and promote workers’ health (Glamser, 1981; Hershey, Moewen, & Jacobs-Lawson, 2003; Murta, Leandro-França, & Seidl, 2014; Soares & Costa, 2011; Zanelli, Silva, & Soares, 2010). In Brazil, however, these programs are particularly important because of the Brazilians’ difficulty to plan the future, which is partially explained by our short-sighted and collective culture (França, 2012). This reality could be changed by the globalized world and awareness about the importance of measures to reinforce individual’s, organization’s, and government’s responsibilities. However, to the audience that is now 60 years or older, and had few opportunities to foresee such a long-time future, the PPA offers a space where workers acquire information about how to better plan retirement and define their post-career life plans.

The PPAs should be strengthened and expanded in public and private organizations (Murta et al., 2014; Soares & Costa, 2011; Zanelli et al., 2010). However, few Brazilian organizations adopt this people management practice , and most of them are public organizations (França et al., 2014; Leandro-França, 2016). According to França and Soares (2009) and Murta et al. (2014), lifelong education and education throughout the career on factors that enable successful retirement have more impact than previous planning close to retirement. The authors consider self-knowledge process as a continuous process that should not be started on the eve of retirement.

Except for the retirement preparation programs, few scientific studies have been published in Brazil focusing on aging in the organizational context, mainly on human resources (HR) policies and practices oriented to older workers . One of these has approached 108 corporations in Brazil and showed that (PwC/FGV, 2013):

  • Only 37% of the corporations acknowledge that older workers could be an alternative to the shortage of talents, unveiling the low adoption of practices oriented to attract this workforce.

  • 94% believe the main benefit of employing older professionals is related to their expertise. However, most of the surveyed organizations do not adopt knowledge management practices (22%), specific training (45%), and mentoring (50%).

  • 63% of the corporations believe that older workers are apathetic because they are closer to retirement, and therefore, 73% of the respondent corporations do not provide career opportunities to this audience, while 70% do not allow flextime.

  • Although most corporations recognize that older workers are more skilled to make diagnosis (87%) and solve problems (86%) and have more emotional balance (96%), they do not allow these professionals to hold core offices.

  • A large part of the corporations believes that costs with older workers are higher. However, organizations should better assess this cost, since most of them recognize that these professionals are more loyal, thus reducing turnover expenses, and only to 32% of the corporations wages are a barrier to hire old employees.

Another Brazilian study carried out by França et al. (2014) adapted some questions of the Van Dalen et al. (2010) study to assess managers’ perception in 207 organizations (one manager per organization, 60% of the private sector) on the retirement preparation programs— PPAs and HR management practices toward aging. Regarding the PPAs only half said to be familiar with the Statute of the Elderly (Brasil, 2003), which provides that public and private organizations must carry out the PPA. Consequently, only one fourth of the organizations surveyed performed the PPA, although most managers considered it very important.

Regarding the remaining human resources policies and practices adopted by the Brazilian organizations to deal with workers’ aging, the study by França et al. (2014) emphasized the similarities with the European study as to the Brazilian managers’ vision on the evaluation of older workers’ traits , i.e., more reliable, more loyal to the organization, and more sociable, while younger workers are perceived as physically healthier, more flexible, and with more technology skills than the older ones. Anyhow, there was a huge difference in the results for European and Brazilian managers concerning measures that most of the Brazilian managers adopt (or not) and will (or not) adopt, namely: downsize the hierarchical status for workers to continue to work (84%), offer half-time jobs (78.5%), and reduce workload (72%). The measures that managers intend to implement in the future regard the adjustment of tasks (52.2%), ergonomics measures (50.7%), and age threshold for improper/unhealthy work (44.6%). Finally, regarding the measures already adopted, the following were most relevant: adoption of ergonomics measures (30.8%) and continuous career progression (40.8%).

França et al. (2014) disclose a contradiction between what Brazilian managers say that should be done, what has been effectively done, and what they propose to do. This resembles the distance between the intention and action by individuals or between attitudes and behavior. This is clear when, for example, most participants agree on the need for reducing older workers’ workload and when, in another question, most respondents did not take in consideration implementing this measure in the future. It is as if these managers could not perceive their own authority and/or competence to propose measures in which they believe. This recalls the need not only for awareness raising but for broad and urgent debate on the role of the organizations’ human resources manager in this new changing scenario. Cepellos (2013) also observed that the general perception of HR managers—who works in Brazil—about older workers is relatively positive; however, these perceptions have not resulted in the adoption of management practices toward older workers.

The recent governmental proposal of 65 years as the minimum age for retirement (Brasil, 2016) and the consequences of this proposal due to the need for updating and including older workers are likely to enhance age management practices in Brazil. Therefore, there is a pressing need for studies and interventions to foster predictors of well-being at work, as well as to enhance the support to workers that will retire, through the adoption of PPAs.

Although in a slower pace than we could expect, these measures are being put in practice. For example, the retirement preparation programs were proposed in the 1990s and recommended in the Statute of the Elderly. Results were slower than hoped for, and few organizations develop this practice. Over years, the PPAs have been expanded mainly in public institutions (Leandro-França, 2016) and are being cautiously implemented in private institutions.

Recently the retirement planning was inserted as one of the indicators evaluated in organizations by the Instituto Ethos de Empresas e Responsabilidade Social ( 2013 ). Large Brazilian organizations adopted this system of indicators conceived by the Instituto Ethos that allows to “point out priorities, set goals and joint initiatives, facilitate the monitoring of actions through periodic evaluations, and allow the company and its value chain to grow together toward sustainability” (p. 4). This measure ultimately influences the organizations’ value in the stock market and, therefore, boosts the replication of PPAs by a larger number of public and private organizations.

In Portugal, Pinto (2015) showed that most HR managers do not use age management, and this is not expected to happen in the short term. Only two corporations developed formal age management programs. These programs comprise HR practices that range from the redefinition of job descriptions, changes to work positions, job rotation, flextime, and assignment of roles as tutor, mentor, or trainer. Most managers do not acknowledge the urgent need to develop specific HR practices for older workers. Age management is more reactive than proactive. The practices more valuable for workers were rewards, recognitions, participation, and flexible work.

In an attempt to analyze the phenomenon in Portugal in the light of institutionalization to reach higher autonomy levels, as proposed by the concept of active aging , four investigations were selected: Silva (2009) described the impact of peoples’ life story on the reorganization of time by the time of retirement; few years later, Silva (2012) approached the perspective of elderly affection in the institutional context, Branco (2012) tried to study how the transition to retirement happens and is explained, and Catanho (2011) resumed active aging in a population different from the previous investigation, in the insular context.

In the first approach, Silva (2009) analyzes the impact of peoples’ life story on the reorganization of the retirement time and, considering the emerging influences of the active aging ideology , emphasizes two aspects: (1) the analysis of life stories is crucial to understand the decisions, opportunities, and interests of people by the time of retirement, and (2) stronger or weaker incorporation of active aging ideology in time organization, out of the labor market , is closely related to the life pathways adopted by the subjects. Silva also refers to the different occupational pathways between women and men. Women reorganize time more easily when they retire because of their continuous investment in domestic chores and caregiving. Therefore, retired workers are not a homogeneous group, although they share a range of references and historical, cultural, and social episodes.

In the second paper, Silva (2012) suggests that idealized active aging presents an incomplete vision of old age. Active aging is mainly based on the primacy of activation, independence, and productivity in tune with the new generation of social policies. The social participation idealized by these policies concerns not only public incentives promoted by employability but also by the individuals’ capacity building, increased participation in matters of public interest, and defense of their own interests.

When reviewing the importance of older people’s affection in the institutional context, Silva’s (2012) study shows that aging is related to change and wisdom but is also associated to decadence among the elderly population in general. The old people investigated in this study regret to miss their past lives and had a feeling of having lost former references of life.

Interested to understand if retired older workers continued to participate in the formal and informal economy, sociability, and how they coped with the feeling of solitude, Branco (2012) found that people experience the transition to retirement in different ways. The author emphasized the heterogeneity of this group resulting from their social and economic capital, which should be maximized by the civil society or specifically in the human resources management scope. The functional intervention demands to raise workers’ awareness about their skills, improve their satisfaction, encourage them to remain in the world of work, and lead them to personal and social reorganization in times of transition or change.

Catanho (2011) studied an insular population and found a different reality, where active aging is a challenge for the elderly because, although they consider themselves active because of their physical autonomy and leisure activities, they do not fit into the definition of active aging. Despite the positive education offer to the elderly, their participation remains negligible because it also “depends on people’s closeness to education in their lifetime” (Catanho, 2011, p. 115).

5.5 Recommendations Related to Age Management

5.5.1 Ageism

Ageism was often overlooked by the communication means and the academy, differently from other forms of prejudice present in our society such as sexism, racism, and homophobia (Nelson, 2005; Palmore, 2004). The first step to reduce ageism is to explain to the population that people of more than 60 years make up a more heterogeneous age group. Old people are a highly differentiated category, being the wisest and the most dement in the society (Neto, 2004).

At which age is the worker considered older? Literature divides this group in three ranges : young-old (65–74 years), middle-old (75–84 years), and old-old (aged 85+). Based on two censuses in Portugal in 1991 and 2001, the old-old group grows most in relation to the other groups (Simões, 2005). To Truxillo et al. (2015), the definition of older worker is troublesome when we analyze the workforce aging . The authors argue that the concept widely varies between contexts and cultures and factors that define who is considered older. There are different stereotypes of age associated to different works, and that vary all over the world including because of the legal age for retirement and laws to protect workers. In the United States, for example, this protection starts at the age of 40 years, although the concept of older worker and rules are changing. If we consider professional training, socioeconomic and education levels, physical profile, social relationships, and access to goods and services that a 60-year-old person has today, he/she is comparable to a 40-year-old individual in the past.

Baby boomer aging has drastically changed the concept of who is considered an old worker. Truxillo et al. (2015) used the term older worker for those getting closer to the retirement age and those working a little beyond the standard retirement age. In the United States, for example, this could include individuals aged 50–60 years old, although many remain working when they are 70 years or older. The authors emphasize that aging is an individual process, and comparing individuals of different age groups could be less useful than the considerations about physiological and psychological factors of life.

Despite the gradual increase in the number of surveys and studies about ageism in the international literature, including Brazilian and Portuguese texts, there is great shortage of studies about ageism and its specificities. Whitbourne and Hulicka (1990) surveyed ageism using 139 psychological texts published over 40 years. The texts disclosed strong traits of ageism, mainly regarding biological decline, reduction of psychological function, and social detachment. Childhood and adolescence were five times more frequent than adulthood or old age. Nelson (2002) shows it in his survey about types of stereotypes investigated about racism, sexism, and ageism in the abstract of articles on the PsycINFO database. By that time Nelson found 2215 articles about racism, 1085 about sexism, and only 215 articles about ageism. According to the author, this pattern of lack of interest in the psychology literature shows that one of the reasons, and maybe the most obvious, is that ageism is the best tolerated and more institutionalized form of prejudice in the world, notably in the United States. According to Nelson it has to do with the message conveyed by the consumption industry that aging is not desirable. This fact, per se, shows the need for researching ageism.

Although ageism and age-based discrimination are usually used as synonyms, ageism mainly refers to attitudes, i.e., evaluations of a person in relation to another based on age. Thus, age-based prejudice could be used as synonym to ageism. On the other hand, age-based discrimination corresponds to behaviors that express this attitude, generally negative, in relation to the other and based on age. Put in another way, age-based discrimination refers to the behavioral expression of ageism (Goldani, 2010). França et al. (2016) defined organizational ageism as a set of negative or positive attitudes toward aging, favoring or disfavoring the older workforce and favoring or disfavoring its inclusion/exclusion and permanence and, therefore, the well-being of those who want or need to remain in the labor market.

In order to fight ageism in organizations , researchers and organizations should measure these attitudes of prejudice against older workers to recommend interventions based on their findings. Neto (2004) validated the Portuguese version of the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FS) proposed by Fraboni, Saltstone, and Hugues. The Portuguese version presented 25 items (instead of the 29 in the original scale) divided in the same factors: antilocution (hostile talk and slander), avoidance (avoid group members they do not like), and discrimination (exclusion from civil rights, employment, from access to some forms of accommodation, and from education and leisure opportunities).

Researching stereotypes of 796 managers of older workers and the influence of these stereotypes on the tendency to retain them in the labor market, Henkens (2005) elaborated a 15-item (or opinions) scale about older workers. The factorial analysis generated three stereotype dimensions: (1) productivity of older staff members, (2) reliability, and (3) adaptability. The results showed that stereotyped ideas about older workers influenced the managers’ attitudes in relation to employees’ retirement. Older managers more frequently in contact with older employees tend to hold more positive opinions.

Chiesa et al. (2016) validated and used Henkens’ (2005) stereotypes scale to relate it to the occupational self-efficacy scale of Di Fabio and Taralla (2006, in Chiesa et al., 2016). The authors intended to investigate the relationship between age stereotypes and professional self-efficacy of older workers following the proposal that older workers with more negative attitudes about their aging are less confident about their skills to perform tasks. Researchers tested 4667 Italian bankers of different ages and pooled them in two groups—younger than 50 years and 50 years or older. The exploratory and confirmatory analyses of Henkens’ original instrument (one single item changed) gave rise to the final 13-item Italian version, confirming the structure proposed by Henkens for prejudices against older workers in three dimensions: productivity, reliability, and adaptability. The results found by Chiesa confirmed the relationship between stereotypes about older workers and occupational self-efficiency, and this relationship is moderated by age. Therefore, the organization’s positive beliefs in relation to adaptability and reliability of older workers improved occupational self-efficiency for the 50 years or older group but had no effect on the productivity of those younger than 50 years.

In Brazil, França et al. (2016) carried out a survey among 600 workers of 18–75 years old all over the country. The original scale of ageism in organizational context (EACO) had 28 items. The parallel analysis and exploratory factorial analyses resulted in a final scale of 14 items divided into two dimensions. The first dimension represented the negative attitudes mainly defined by cognitive and health aspects. It revealed excellent internal consistence (α = 0.83) and load factors above 0.53. An example of an item is “Older workers fall ill more easily.” The second dimension represented the positive attitudes mainly defined by positive aspects, with good internal consistence (α = 0.77) and load factors above 0.57. An example of item is “Older workers are more committed to work than younger workers.”

When the EACO (França et al., 2016) results were compared for the two age groups (younger and older workers), they showed significant differences regarding positive and negative attitudes toward organizational aging. The group of younger workers was more negative in relation to aging than the older workers. On the other hand, the older group presented more positive attitudes than the younger ones. The predictor variables of sex, age, and education level confirmed the statistical significance in multiple linear regressions, in which younger and less educated workers showed more negative attitudes in the face of aging in the organizational environment.

The results of this survey make two practical suggestions: the adoption of actions and strategies that contribute to minimize uncertainty and the perception of insecurity caused by age. The second one suggests that, in addition to organizational factors, the psychological factors could explain individuals’ positive viewpoint in relation to older workers and, therefore, the regular contact of managers with those workers should be encouraged, as previously suggested by Henkens (2005). Regarding the academia, the research should be replicated with other specific professional groups using the simplified version (after removing the items) or the original 28-item version.

Siqueira-Brito, França, and Valentini (2016) performed confirmatory analyses of the Ageing Scale in the Organizational Context (EACO) with 383 workers of all ages in the state of Rio de Janeiro . The confirmatory analyses generated 13 items with good results and goodness of fit. Only one item was removed, and the remaining items were grouped in two dimensions: positive attitudes and negative attitudes, confirming the previous scale structure presented by França, removing one single item from the previous exploratory scale. Example of positive attitude item: Older workers are more committed to work than the younger workers. Example of negative attitude item: Older workers use to fall ill more easily.

To deal with ageism, Kray and Shirako (2009) identified three categories of strategies that organizations could implement: (1) recognize the stereotypes enhancing the positive and discouraging the negative ones (prejudice management); (2) match opportunities for younger and older workers, including equal representation of age in hiring and professional training; and (3) change organizational culture fostering the promotion of identity confidence and appraising personal effort.

Thinking along the same line, Chiesa et al. (2016) agree on the need to emphasize old workers’ positive traits to reduce the presence of negative stereotypes in the workplace and promote their self-efficacy. About awareness raising, França et al. (2014) consider crucial to inform managers about damages caused by ageism in organizations that prevent the inclusion and greater participation in intergenerational teams. They should also be trained and discussed with expert aspects related to workforce aging and the required changes in the organizational environment.

Chiesa et al. (2016) reinforce that training programs should be oriented to the participation of workers of all ages to encourage professional partnerships and support formal and informal learning among older and younger workers, as well as mutual exchange of knowledge. In addition to this strategy, the improvement of all generations’ knowledge fosters cooperation between age groups. As pointed out by França, Silva, and Barreto (2010), knowledge and intergenerational experience disrupt the possibilities of prejudice against aging.

5.5.2 Flextime and Job Control

Retirement is a process through which older workers gradually reduce their psychological attachment to work and labor activities until the full retirement. That is why works with shorter workload or flextime are recommended prior to full retirement, so that workers can gradually withdraw from tasks developed in the course of their career and start performing new activities. In addition to flextime, job control seems equally relevant for older workers. When people have greater control on their routines, they are more prone to continue to work even after the legal age to retire (Charles & Decicca, 2007; Gielen, 2007; Truxillo et al., 2015).

Investigating the factors that could influence 148 civil servants of a technology organization to decide for retirement or to continue to work, Menezes and França (2012) found that the main reasons to retain older workers in the organizations are age, job control , and flextime . The results also pointed out that if an older worker has a negative perception on his/her work (less satisfaction and engagement) and, at the same time, little flextime, he/she would tend to adopt the bridge employment which means to use job as a bridge between work and retirement, usually half-time or contract-based works (Feldman, 1994; Shultz, 2003). However, if the worker is facing health problems, he/she is more likely to retire definitely, regardless of any other predictor.

In the United States, studies and interventions on the topic are so advanced that Morelock, McNamara, and James (2016) published a survey that analyzed the effect of an intervention on the workers’ workability. Workability refers to the skills, health, and other physical and mental characteristics demanded by work activities. Workability tends to decrease with age. Morelock et al. (2016) have accessed 473 health professionals and found that an intervention aimed to help workers to better manage time to perform a work could benefit older workers.

5.5.3 Training for Older Workers

Learning starts but does not end in the first decades of life. Even when work-based learning starts early, qualification is continued on the job. The tendency of longer professional life is likely to persist, and more people will retire in a more gradual and individual way (Ramey & Francis, 2009). Studies show that in advanced age old people perform as well as the young people in tasks demanding wisdom, i.e., discernment in important but uncertain issues of life (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2005), and could perform better than younger workers in areas where both have expertise (Staudinger, Marsiske, & Baltes, 1993). However they must be consistently updated like a continuous education process.

Lifelong education meets the principles of active aging (2015) that reinforces that better educated people live longer and healthier than the less educated ones. Learning in adulthood has positive impact on self-esteem, self-confidence, social participation, levels of physical activity and tobacco use, skills, and chances of getting a job or even a promotion. Moreover, some cognitive skills peak during youth and decline over years, such as mental speed, solution of new problems, spatial reasoning, and capacity of performing many tasks simultaneously.

However, the skills that depend on accumulation of knowledge increase with age such as vocabulary, general knowledge, specific knowledge, and skills acquired by means of different roles, occupations, and interests over years. The intellectual skills , for example, widely vary in all ages, and some old people have better or equivalent skills as younger individuals (Centro Internacional de Longevidade Brasil, 2015). The core elements of culture that favor knowledge transfer process in an organization include appraisal of older workers for their knowledge, mutual respect between the parties, and due importance attached to the knowledge transfer process (França et al., 2010; Rau & Adams, 2012).

The concern that older workers are less productive can be solved emphasizing continued or lifelong education , mainly regarding knowledge updating. With the fast-paced technology advances and less youngsters in the workforce, learning becomes a continuous variable in productive life. The active participation of the elderly in all areas of human activity is increasingly needed (Centro Internacional de Longevidade Brasil, 2015). Some best practices pointed out in literature on training are equal access to training, continued monitoring of learning level, and opportunity for older workers to take on the role of trainers or mentors of younger workers (Naegele & Walker, 2006; Sterns & Miklos, 1995).

Some countries like Canada have adopted the performance evaluation with useful and unbiased feedback, specific benefits to older workers, and practices of appraisal and respect. Armstrong-Stassen (2008) performed a study comprising 426 human resources managers and 284 older Canadian workers (of which 171 were still in the career and 113 in bridge employment). The results identified seven human resources strategies: flexible work options, job design, training to older workers, training to managers, performance evaluation, remuneration, and recognition and respect. The practices that express appraisal and respect for seasoned workers are the most influent on these people’s decision to remain in the organization. Nonetheless, about 75% of the workers said that organizations do not adopt these practices just because they do not consider these as a priority. These last findings corroborate those found in the research by França et al. (2014).

Measures should be proposed not only to update and develop workers over life but to support those who are separating and train those who will replace them encouraging planning for the future at any age. However, these demands depend on the political willingness of the organizations and, above all, on the entrepreneurial spirit, leadership, and creativity of managers toward a pro-human attitude.

5.5.4 Ergonomics

The work activity representation that largely prevails today was formalized early in the twentieth century—the Taylorism. In this workplace, the organization reduces knowledge about the activity to the minimum required, and people management is no longer in charge of what is done in the job post but of the selection and administration of problems formalized in the service contract (Guérin, Laville, Daniellou, Duraffourg, & Kerguelen, 2004). It is in support to this context that authors evidenced the arousal in the 1970s of ergonomics as a science concerned about work conditions and work organization and its relation to workers’ health, safety, and quality of life.

Ergonomics refers to a subject matter that studies work and its transformation. It refers to the transformation of devices by building knowledge on human being in activity (Falzon, 2007; Guérin et al., 2004). To effectively build knowledge based on the work activity, it is essential to know beyond the ergonomics fundamentals, learning the viewpoints of managers and workers of all ages, including the old ones, regarding the differentiation between task and activity, definition of operational strategies, operational modes, regulation, workload, variability, and confrontation (Nunes, 2015). The development process enabled the change of a wide range of concepts, parameters, goals, objectives, and ways of looking to and doing work. The work was gradually shaped to the new configurations of reality and society, fitting into the tasks and their requirements (Abrahão & Torres, 2004).

According to Wisner (1994), those who are less capable to develop their intellectual skills in childhood and youth will probably suffer prematurely the effects of age. And who benefited from proper education preserved capacities for much longer time. These results evidence the importance of formal education and as education during work life, so that workers remain skilled and trained in line with their needs and activities’ requirements.

The importance of striving for improvements aimed at the ability to work at all stages of the worker’s active life was suggested by Tuomi, Ilmarinem, Jahkola, Katajatinne, and Tulkki (2005), since the factors that reduce these skills start being accumulated in the so-called midlife and are found in workers of around 45 years old. Surely, the investment to maintain work capacity and functional capacity produces results in a few years, and improved functional capacity remains with workers when they retire and enter the third phase of life. They may find meaning to this productive, independent, and active life for up to 10 or 20 years after the retirement age (Tuomi et al., 2005).

However, the implementation of programs to maintain working skills in companies also depends on the organizational willingness and integrated actions of worker’s health. The discussion should not be restricted to chronological aging but should also approach issues related to functional aging that usually arises earlier. These facts depend on prioritizing lifelong learning and human capital that is constructed and allows active aging in organizations. As such, support measures oriented to low-skilled workers should be implemented, considering that a large share of these workers could be unskilled in a few years if these measures are not properly adopted (Tuomi et al., 2005).

5.6 Conclusion

The expanded life expectancy generated gains to the population that now lives longer with more quality, thanks to the new technologies, better health care, and greater access to information and education. However, living longer also poses challenges such as continued payment of pensions, offer of services that meet aged population’s demands, ageism, and intergenerational conflicts in organizations.

Added to this, the world economic crisis demands measures involving policies and legislation, education and professional development, managerial practices that could bring about changes to the relationships between workers, and more sustainable and friendly organizational environment. Literature points out the fight to ageism, opportunities to update, changes on labor laws to comprise flextime , stronger job control by older worker, and ergonomic working environment as crucial changes. All these measures could facilitate the continuity of senior workers in the labor market, if they with so.

To attract and retain older professionals in the public and private sectors, the government, organizations, and the society should work together to reduce ageism, allow flextime and reduce workload, update skills, and perform ergonomic interventions to adapt the working conditions for this audience. These measures have already been pointed out by literature and approached in this chapter.

Investments in capacity building and training of workers over the course of their labor lives are another option justified by the expected increased participation of old people in the workforce. There is an increasing awareness that continuity of older workers’ professional lives is crucial to the economic development of the country and to the sustainability of different social programs aimed to such growth. There is significant proven potential gain in this area.

Therefore, we believe that the research and practices of people management presented here could contribute to a work environment that is challenging and inspiring to older workers. Institutions that are proactive in the adoption of these measures will be better positioned to remain competitive in the market and promote the well-being and recognition of those who represent the organizations’ differential: the persons. Not only individuals should be responsible, as frequently happens, but also the organizations and state and federal governments should take care of a society that is more and more diverse and made up by generations whose values and ways of thinking, working, and living are different and, therefore, should be known and understood.