We now have a huge global economy that is soon to have two billion people over the age of 60. We are constantly learning about the broad societal impacts, the business impacts, and the personal impacts of this accelerating demographic cohort. As much as anything, in dimensions and speed, the new demographic change is a problem to be truly admired. There is no question about it: there is a distinct, new society and economy to be built upon this phenomenon.
We exist in an artificial life ‘structure’ that expects us to study until 20 or 25, work until we reach the magical age of 65, and then retire. We box people into that last group even though it may not fit for them. There’s very little voice and representation for older people once they’ve left the workforce. Chronological age certainly doesn’t determine our aspirations, nor does it determine our capacity to do important and fulfilling things.
Healthy aging will be different for everybody. Our first step should be to give people options when it comes to activities, homes and medical care. Many will want to continue to be part of the workforce. There’s no simple answer, but the first step is to break away from this rigid framing of the life trajectory. When this happens, seniors will invent lives that you can’t even imagine.
Mass marketing and media often position older people as vulnerable and frail. These messages might seem trivial, but they reinforce the stereotypes that we all begin to internalize at a very early age. What may be surprising is that people over the age of 70 are three times more susceptible to believing negative and defeatist assumptions about seniors than younger people.
Public relations groups seem to focus on a younger cohort of people rather than accepting older people as something more than passive consumers of life insurance and reverse mortgages. It is important to shift that narrative into a more positive realm. This is the central message that we need to get across: we must focus on how we can keep people as healthy as possible for as long as possible because we know that this leads not only to a more satisfying existence, but also to economic growth and productivity.
Older people have knowledge and experience in abundance
If we do well for our aging society today that will have a positive impact on the economy. We need a comprehensive place where we can bring together business and government to talk seriously about solutions on the topic of the broader ‘silver’ economy and look at it through an economic lens as consumers and as employees. On a practical level, we need to take this awareness of aging and this huge demographic trend and see how we can make it positive and bring the important business voice to the table.
The workforce is changing, and we need to make sure that age is part of our inclusion strategies in the private sector. Ultimately, a business must make money and it’s important to reflect on what older workers can bring to an organization as well. Academic evidence shows that knowledge and experience are two of the main predictors of good performance in a job. Older people have knowledge and experience in abundance.
Many seniors have an enthusiasm for sharing real-life experiences and engaging and encouraging people of all ages. To distinguish reality from fantasy and resolve conflicts between new values and cherished old values, it helps to have contributing people of all ages on staff. When people are not driven by personal achievement, they have greater capacity to build positive workplace friendships.
Excellent leadership today encourages ordinary people to bring out the best in themselves. Organizations need to liberate the leader in everyone if they are to exist in a complicated and competitive world. Other than a big difference in the number of candles on our birthday cakes, there is not that much difference between the senior worker and the new worker. They both have a unique capacity to cooperate and start and finish on their own. They both have the ability to hold steady and confront us with reality, especially when the going seems difficult to digest and discouraging.
In closing, I want to honour Seniors’ Month, our seniors and the people who work so hard to enrich and support our lives. Let’s also take a moment to reflect on our privilege to live and work here in a community built upon such rich Indigenous histories and recognize the nations and peoples to whom we owe the biodiversity many of us are trying to protect. We are guests here, and we should reflect upon the responsibility to care for the water, the air, the land and the people who live here today, and in the generations to come.
Wayne Olson is a Pelham Town Councillor representing Ward 1.
