Seniors At Senior Level

"It's still too much fun to work". The American business society is now witnessing a shift in the demographics of business leaders. The fact of the matter is that business leaders do not want to retire and want a “piece of the action” for as long as they can have it. Initially, the retirement age was 65, but has now increased to 70, 80 and is expected to increase beyond that. In my opinion, I see two possibilities to this change in demographics and enthusiasm. Firstly, being an individualistic society where everyone has to perform and create his or her own niche, competition is high and survival is difficult. However, if the period to prove the potential of one-self is increased, it may make getting to the top of the ladder slightly easier and also increase the number of chances one can get to become successful. Finally, having an old workforce may not be entirely beneficial since old schools of thought may prevail and the injection of new ideas may diminish. Also, those who work hard to get to the top and are waiting in line for the vacancy of “the spot” may get perturbed and eventually loose hope. To add, unemployment rates may rise and may negatively affect the economy.

Furthermore, I believe that having a high number of experienced minds working on in an organization beneficial in the sense that it adds “value” to the “human capital”. Firms spend a fixed amount of their revenues on training and developing their workforce. If these firms retain their most qualified, efficient and effective employees, they may save on most of their training expenses and utilize the “financial capital” in obtaining resources that other firms do not possess. This in effect will increase the strength of the firm by adding value to the firm’s resources.

Tags: senior citizens | senior citizen | elderly workers