Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI)

While only 20.6% of the global population were aged 50 and above in 2010, the share of this age group is projected to increase to 32.7% in 2050 (United Nations, 2019). Consequently, within the next decades, the demographic change will have a severe impact on the global workforce, particularly in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. The increasing number of older workers is caused by a variety of reasons including the aging baby boomer generation, higher statutory retirement ages as well as the growing proportion of working pensioners. Growing health and fitness levels of older people as well as the increasing life expectancy enhance the motivation to continue to pursue meaningful and fulfilling employment in old age (OECD, 2011; United Nations, 2019). Aging populations and workforces lead to a variety of consequences for society and the economy. Some countries already responded to this development with pension reforms to relieve governmental pension systems. Skilled labor force shortages af­fect key in­dus­tries, chal­len­ging or­ga­niza­t­i­ons in terms of re­cruit­ment, suc­ces­si­on plan­ning, and know­ledge re­ten­ti­on.

It is hence in the in­te­rest of both, organizations and policy-makers, to re­tain the job performance, motivation, and health of ol­der em­ployees. In light of this, or­ga­niza­t­io­nal prac­tices that enable and foster working in later life become increasingly important. While research has identified many in­di­vi­du­al le­vers (e.g., flexible work, occupational healthcare, training, leadership; Pak et al., 2019), organizations still lack a well-foun­ded self-as­sess­ment tool to as­sess their rea­di­ness for an aging work­force and to de­ri­ve pos­si­ble cour­ses of ac­tion (Hen­kens et al., 2018; Tru­xil­lo et al., 2015). Mo­re­o­ver, little research has covered the relative importance of individual organizational practices for ol­der em­ployees’ per­for­mance, mo­ti­va­ti­on, and health.

Wöhrmann, Deller, and Pundt (2018) hence propose the Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI) to sys­te­ma­ti­cal­ly de­scri­be beneficial working con­di­ti­ons for ol­der em­ployees and to com­pa­re or­ga­niza­t­i­ons re­gar­ding their prac­tices for an aging workforce. The index aims to serve as a free tool for self-assessment within organizations and benchmarking among peers on industry and regional levels.

Overview of the LLWI
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Partner

Goinger Kreis

The Go­in­ger Kreis is a Ger­man fo­rum und think tank of lea­ding busi­ness ma­na­gers and sci­en­tists for the fu­ture of hu­man re­sour­ce ma­nage­ment and em­ploy­ment. Wi­t­hin its in­te­rest group for "em­ploy­ment po­ten­ti­als of ol­der workers" the Go­in­ger Kreis sup­ports the de­ve­lop­ment of an in­dex for suc­cess­ful and sustainable la­ter life work sin­ce many ye­ars. Fur­ther in­for­ma­ti­on is avail­able at www.go­in­ger-kreis.de.

Demographie Netzwerk (ddn)

The Demographie Netzwerk (ddn) is net­wor­king as­so­cia­ti­on of ~400 com­pa­nies and in­sti­tu­ti­ons that aims to ac­tive­ly shape the de­mo­gra­phic chan­ge wi­t­hin the work­force. The ddn sup­ports the de­ve­lop­ment of the La­ter Life Workplace In­dex as a prac­tice-ori­en­ted tool al­lo­wing com­pa­nies and or­ga­niza­t­i­ons to self-as­sess them­sel­ves re­gar­ding their ca­pa­bi­li­ties re­gar­ding an aging and in­cre­a­sin­gly age-di­ver­se work­force.

Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA)

The BAuA is a fe­deral in­sti­tu­te from the Ger­man Mi­nis­try of La­bour and So­ci­al Af­fairs (BMAS) and con­ducts sci­en­ti­fic re­se­arch in four di­vi­si­ons: Is­su­es and Pro­gram­mes, Pro­ducts and Work Sys­tems, Work and Health, as well as Ha­zar­dous Sub­stan­ces and Bio­lo­gi­cal Agents. The BAuA sup­ports the de­ve­lop­ment of the Later Life Workplace Index sci­en­ti­fi­cal­ly and me­tho­do­lo­gi­cal­ly.

ias Gruppe

The ias Group provides integrated solutions regarding health and performance management in Germany. Over the last 40 years the ias Group has pioneeringly accompanied all changes in the world of work. As one of the leading providers in its industry, it develops prevention-oriented solutions that help to keep managers, employees, and whole organizations healthy, productive, and successful. The ias Group supports the Leuphana University of Lüneburg in embedding the Later Life Workplace Index and its findings and insights in practice.

Age Smart Employer Award

The Age Smart Employer Award is a culture-change strategy to honor New York City businesses whose practices engage and retain workers of all ages, with a specific focus on older workers. The award was initiated by the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center and The New York Academy of Medicine in 2012 as an extension of the Age Friendly NYC initiative, a public-private partnership to make New York City a better place to grow old. It honors New York City employers whose policies and practices promote generational diversity in the workforce and highlights the positive contributions of older workers.