Later Life Workplace Index

Particularly in times of demographic change and skilled labor shortages, the successful employment of older workers gains importance. But what does an organization look like in which working in older age and working in age-diverse teams is successful? The aim of the Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI) is to answer this question by identifying and measuring organizational practices that maintain and promote the performance, motivation, and health of older workers. The index provides an overall framework of existing organizational practices, e.g. in the field of health management, work design or age-friendly leadership. Most of the identified practices do not exclusively benefit older employees, but are meaningful for employees of all age groups, i.e. they are age-inclusive.

The Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI) includes the following dimensions and indicators:

The measurability and comparability of working conditions in different organizations, can improve the management of the demographic change on an organizational level and, therefore, lead to a more positive image regarding the opportunities and possibilities of an extended working life.

Implications for research and practice

For researchers, the Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI) helps to understand the relative impact of organizational practices on the success and sustainability of the employment of older workers. The index can be used to holistically measure organizational practices for older employees to promote research in the field of successful employment of aging workforces.

For practitioners, the Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI) presents an accessible self-assessment tool for organizational practices related to the employment of older workers. By setting benchmarks, organizations can compare their results with other companies and thus identify their own potentials. Each participating organization receives a detailed report, which contains information about their strengths and weaknesses as well as general information about the impact of the identified organizational practices on organizational outcomes.