Older Workers: Labor Can Help Employers and Employees Plan Better for the Future

Highlights

Demographic changes pose serious challenges for employers, the economy, and older Americans. As the baby boomers near traditional retirement ages, the loss of experienced workers could have adverse effects on productivity and economic growth. Also, many older Americans face less-secure retirements due to rising health care costs, pension coverage changes, and fiscal pressures on the nation's retirement programs. Due to the growing importance of workers aged 55 or older, GAO examined: (1) areas of the labor market affected by the aging of the workforce; (2) factors that influence the timing of retirement; and (3) what employers are doing to hire and retain older workers.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of Labor	Enhanced public awareness of demographic trends, their likely consequences, and possible solutions that could help promote both economic growth and retirement security for individuals, could help mitigate the potentially serious implications of the aging of the U.S. labor force, avoid possible knowledge and skill gaps in the future, and help ensure the financial security of older Americans. The Department of Labor has taken sound first steps in this area, including convening an intra-agency task force on older workers and working with business leaders interested in issues concerning the aging workforce. However, these challenges warrant a higher priority and a high-visibility campaign involving a wider group of employers as well as employees. Specifically, the Secretary of Labor should design a comprehensive and highly visible public awareness campaign as a way to help employers and employees plan better for the future and by so doing, bridge the gap between employer and employee needs. In designing the campaign, the Department of Labor should involve other agencies that have either regulatory jurisdiction or a clear policy interest, such as the Social Security Administration and the Health and Human Services Department's Administration on Aging. The campaign should target employer organizations and groups that interact with employees and ultimately, would serve to encourage employers to find ways to retain and recruit older workers, and assist employees in creating and finding opportunities for continued work.	Closed – Not Implemented The Department of Labor agreed with this recommendation and continued work on a number of initiatives focused on the employment of older Americans. In addition to expanding the number of SCSEP participants--made possible by Recovery act funding, the agency has initiated a multi-site demonstration project designed to create new approaches to helping workers aged 55 and older in preparing for and obtain good jobs in high-growth, high-demand industries. The Department also continues to sponsor National Employ Older Workers Week and is working to address reauthorization of the Older Americans Act. Nevertheless, while GAO appreciates the Department's various efforts in this area, we do not feel that the Department's actions to date constitute a truly comprehensive and highly visible public awareness campaign, as recommended.