• Job Reskilling and Upskilling Among the 50+. April 2022. As high demand for workers has enabled people to seek out jobs with flexibility and growth opportunities, it simultaneously has demonstrated to employers the need for upskilling and reskilling the workforce. 2022 survey data from AARP finds that the majority of adults (57%) are willing to learn new skills if requested by their employer, and 42% are interested in receiving additional training if it were available for free. Yet despite this willingness to learn, only 32% of adults participated in job training in the past two years.

• Rising Prices and Increasing Expenses Worry Workers: AARP Financial Security Trends Survey. March 2022. In January 2022, AARP launched its new Financial Security Trends Survey, which is designed to monitor the financial experiences, behaviors, and attitudes of adults ages 30-plus. Findings from the first survey highlight that rising prices are a top financial concern for workers; about one in four individuals say their financial situation is worse than it was 12 months ago; and, both debt and increasing expenses are making it difficult to save for the future. Top barriers to saving for retirement and for emergencies are daily expenses and debt payments. 

• What Older Adults Think About Work During Pandemic. February 2022. As employers scramble to fill key positions amidst the Great Resignation, workers are looking for roles that better suit their goals and lives. For older workers, career decisions have also become choices concerning their personal health and retirement. A recent AARP Research survey of people age 50 and older suggests that while the pandemic has had a broad impact, proximity to planned retirement age may have played a bigger role in older adults’ decision-making. 

• Workforce Hopes and Fears. PwC, May 2022. PwC released the results of its third annual survey investigating current perspectives and reflections of workers on their labor market participation. Survey findings reveal that only 40% of employees said their company is upskilling its workers, while 39% said they’re concerned about not getting sufficient training in digital and technology skills from their employer. PwC’s analysis indicates there are five common factors that make up the “resignation equation”: 1) finding fulfillment in one’s job, 2) one’s ability to be their true self at work, 3) feeling fairly rewarded financially, 4) feeling like colleagues care about one another’s well-being, and 5) feeling like their manager listens to them. 

• The Realities of Aging: How We Can Learn from the Pandemic. The Milken Institute, April 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic offered learnings on where and how to care for older adults. It also revealed how we are ill-prepared for a growing aging population. The creation of a system that supports aging is necessary. Building that system must include efforts to simplify our health systems, a renewed and relentless focus on the individual, and a reduction of inequities in health. 

• Aging: A Family Matter. Edelman Financial Engines, April 2022. In an episode of the podcast Every Day Wealth, Soledad O'Brien and Jean Chatzy host Nora Super, executive director of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging, to discuss the link between healthy longevity and financial wellness. Jason Cowans, a wealth planner with Edelman Financial Engines, joins the conversation as well to discuss aging and planning for future health-care costs and living trusts.

• Unlocking the Full Potential of Financial Wellness Benefits. Morgan Stanley at Work & SHRM, March 2022. To better understand how financial wellness needs have evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic, Morgan Stanley at Work partnered with SHRM to conduct the first Financial Wellness survey of both HR professionals and workers—those both employed and unemployed. This on-demand event dives into the results of that survey and examines the future of workplace financial wellness benefits.

• Mapping the Caregiver Journey. MIT AgeLab. Over a three-month period, MIT AgeLab surveyed 29 employed family caregivers who were caring for an adult family member, gathering data through one month of daily surveys, two months of weekly surveys, and occasional phone interviews. The surveys and interviews covered various aspects of caregiving, touching on transportation, technology, finances, medication management, and personal care. The study unearthed facts about caregiving responsibilities as well as research questions to further explore.

This month, we are pleased to highlight the work of LLEL Collaborative Member Home Instead.

For the past 30 years, Home Instead has strived to recognize the contributions of its employees at all ages, as well as the value of a multi-generational workforce. Since its acquisition by Honor Technology, Inc. in August 2021, the integration has allowed for additional innovative internal and external practices to ‘Change the Face of Aging’ and empower its workforce. One such practice is its ‘Pathways Program,’ which provides employees the opportunity to transition to part-time so they can scale back and enjoy pre-retirement, while continuing to meaningfully contribute to work. Pathways is an employee-led program in which employees initiate conversations with their managers about pre-retirement. The program creates a safe space for employees and managers to have authentic conversations about the employee’s desired pathway through the company as they prepare to transition to retirement. Together employees and managers co-create an individualized plan for what part-time employment and eventual retirement looks like for that employee, as well as building a succession plan for the role. Employees also help identify and train their successors, ensuring that valuable wisdom and expertise is shared within the organization and that the retiring employees leave a legacy and bridge to continued contributions after they retire. You can learn more about this program and other innovative practices at Home Instead by contacting CatalystforChange@homeinsteadinc.com.

The Living, Learning and Earning Longer Collaborative (LLEL) works with global companies to refine the business case for age diversity and highlight promising practices from around the world. With the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), AARP is considering the complexities of the multigenerational workforce in the context of an organization’s recruitment and retention practices, flexible work and caregiving benefits, lifelong learning, and training and assessment procedures. To learn more, visit Growing with Age: Unlocking the Power of the Multigenerational Workforce, LLEL's digital learning platform which offers tools—including the latest research that makes the business case for age diversity—to help employers build, support and sustain multigenerational workforces.

If your organization has not done so already, we highly encourage joining the AARP Employer Pledge Program. This program connects a nationwide group of employers that stand with AARP in affirming the value of experienced workers and is committed to developing diverse organizations. Learn more about signing the pledge.