Shaping the workplace in an era of ageing: HR's time in the sun
Antonio Ribeiro
CEO & Founder @ Yurtle | InsurTech, Employee Benefits, Longevity, Startups, Social Care
It is no secret, our global population is aged, and rapidly ageing. As much as we would like this to be a problem reserved for the public sector to contend with, it is not. Employers who fail to heed the clear warnings from demographic trends do so at their own peril.
What does population ageing mean?
Demographic data can get complex quickly. The headline note is that the number of people in older age is growing much faster than younger people. The number of people aged 65+ is growing at twice the rate of younger age groups.
Why it matters
In short, because of the Old Age Dependency Ratio (OADR). This ratio compares the number of people of a pensionable age for every 1,000 people of working age. This is projected to rise from 305 in mid-2016 to 370 by mid-2041 according to the Office for National Statistics.
As a society, we have built work, education, health, and pensions institutions that presuppose that there are more young people than older people. More than that, these institutions have been built on the assumption that the average person will spend 20 years of early life in education (honing their skills), the next 35-40 in work (monetising their skills), and finally the last 10 years in retirement (reaping the reward of monetisation). Our prevailing social model is to have those of working age, pay the way for those of non-working age.
The “maths” of society has been done assuming we will live much shorter lives than we are projected to do today. Society has in part been able to balance its books to date because of its high rate (relatively speaking) of reproduction. For various reasons, people today are choosing to have fewer children (or to meaningfully delay it), applying further pressure to the all-important OADR.
Living longer is something to be celebrated. It means families hold onto loved ones for longer. This phenomenon is especially magical for those who manage to hold onto good health in old age. However, it is presenting game-changing challenges and inspiring fundamental reconfiguration of our social structures.
In my opinion, nowhere are pressures from population ageing playing out more alarmingly than in the workplace, placing increased demands on employers. Carers UK reports that between 2010-2020, more than 4.3 million people became unpaid/family carers every year, and more than half of those were employed. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was forecasted that 1 in 4 employees had caregiving responsibilities.
Population ageing as an opportunity for HR and wellbeing professionals
As an inherently optimistic person, I perceive this as an incredible opportunity for employers, and HR professionals more specifically. At least for those who rise to the occasion and who show themselves courageous enough to join those pioneering change.
Human resource management is a discipline concerned with the hiring, administration, and training of staff.
Our colleagues in HR and wellness benefits are selling the proverbial pickaxes in a gold rush. They have spent careers learning how to conceive and execute learning and development programmes that align employees to workplace needs. They have a sensitivity and understanding of the importance of building diverse workplaces, and finding the right solutions that deliver on key ESG and DE&I expectations placed on businesses by boardrooms and consumers. Companies often lament the relative difficulty of demonstrating their commitment to the ‘S’ component of ESG interventions, with the ‘E’ being easier to demonstrate through carbon footprint minimising measures for example. Making tangible investments to make society more resilient to our demographic revolution is a prime opportunity to do so.
Tangible interventions HR and wellbeing professionals should consider
Concretely, an aged (and ageing population), creates the following requirements of workplaces which HR and benefits professionals are in poll position to deliver.
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Lifelong training and ‘Returnships’
Higher education in young age is no longer sufficient to equip an employee with the skill and mindset they need to thrive in a career that spans four or five decades. This is especially true when you consider the exponential leaps made by new technology in a post artificial intelligence world. Companies must develop the muscle and learning programmes to allow employees to remain resilient, adaptable, and productive as their professional landscape evolves at an unprecedent pace.
If we continue to retire people pre-maturely, we will proliferate the skills shortages we see in the workplace today. Businesses must learn to cater for older workers in order to attract, retain them and bring out the best in them. We cannot afford to proliferate the ageism that is rife in the working world today. Age is an arbitrary, overly simplistic proxy for what we must ultimately learn to measure more effectively; quality of output and willingness to learn and evolve.
Work and life harmony
The workplace is split into two groups today; those who understand that an ageing population brings with it caregiving needs that collide with work responsibilities, and those who are wilfully blind to the tectonic shifts happening beneath them.
HR is left with the unenviable task of educating leadership teams about the tangible impact on productivity, turnover and absenteeism that comes with increased employee caregiving responsibilities. Whether it is caring for a grandparent (maybe even a great grandparent), a parent or a spouse, these responsibilities in and of their own are enough to push people into burnout. We must find a working rhythm and flexibility that allows people to bring their best self to the workplace and the home.
In today’s market there are various leading family and elder care solutions offering employees support with emergencies and the day-to-day load of caregiving. A world where these benefits are considered staple offerings, like life insurance is today, are just around the corner. The day cannot come soon enough for the 6.5 million UK employees who today are already trying to reconcile childcare, eldercare and working responsibilities.
Outside of third-party solutions, companies should strongly consider leave days for elder and childcare, especially in contexts where planned care falls through or a parent has a fall or medical emergency. The concept of extra days of annual leave is a small logical extension from maternity/paternity leave and family bereavement leave which is commonplace in workplaces today. These developments must be captured in carer specific workplace policies. Employees need to know where companies stand on these matters to arm them with the information they need to judge which workplaces they want to dedicate their productive energy to. Employers will do well to be on the right side of this change if they stand any chance of holding onto women (who are disproportionately saddled with caregiving responsibilities) and senior leaders (who are most likely to have caregiving responsibilities).
It is clear, workplaces are currently embroiled in the most significant challenge they have faced for generations. As always, fortune favours the brave. Employers who are most willing to take their heads out of the sand and make provisions for our irrepressible demographic realties will accumulate the best teams, and as a result, the competitive edge.
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Operations Manager
1yAntonio, great post :)
Sense-maker, driving Momentum and Professional Activator
1yGreat post Antonio Ribeiro, indeed a top priority to be addressed at multiple levels (and simultaneously. You give a few hints on how to approach it! What would you point out as top barriers?
Community Builder & Ecosystem Booster
1yMaria Ana Botelho Neves, MA. FRSA, FSSE