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The purpose of this paper is to explore ageing trends and age stereotypes about older workers, focusing primarily on the Italian employment context.

Beginning from a review of the literature on ageing, the paper: outlines ageing trends and discriminatory behaviours against older workers in Italy; identifies patterns in the age discrimination phenomenon based on organisational characteristics; describes training‐based good practices for enhancing the employability of older workers, as implemented by an Italian energy company; presents a range of best practices for age management.

Despite trends towards an ageing general population and an ageing workforce, there is overwhelming evidence of age discrimination against older workers. This paper reports that the age at which workers may be considered “old” is not clearly defined in the literature and that age discrimination does not follow the same pattern across work contexts. In particular, both organisational characteristics and the particular position held by the employee influence discriminatory behaviour towards older workers on the part of employers. Furthermore, although older workers enjoy fewer training opportunities, training is the most widespread policy for dealing with age discrimination.

This paper points up important implications for human resource professionals and employers with regard to how to optimize an ageing workforce scenario.

The paper provides an in‐depth overview of ageing trends within Italian society and culture and outlines the possible implications for both older workers and organisations.

The population of The Netherlands will, as in other industrialized countries, continue to age in the coming decades. So far, the working‐age population has not been affected, but the ageing process is set to leave its mark on the labour force in the next 25 years. An ageing labour force and possible future policy measures in this area will have important repercussions for individual organizations. Research into future trends has shown that the percentage of people aged over 50 in public service will increase from 15 per cent in 1995 to 35 per cent in 2010. Policy measures aimed at stimulating the labour force participation of the elderly will boost this percentage even further. The elderly employees not only hold the highest positions, but also they withdraw from the workforce in limited numbers. Unless the number of jobs is increased, opportunities for promotion and entry into the Civil Service are likely to decline. The only way to counteract an ageing workforce ‐ even if only to a limited degree ‐ is to encourage the retirement of elderly employees and/or to significantly boost the number of jobs within the organization. Such measures would run counter to current political trends. An alternative would be to reassess the position of the elderly within the organization.

This paper aims to examine the reasons for low labour force participation rates among older workers in Italy and discuss how changing human resource management practices can improve the situation.

The paper analyzes Italian population trends and age‐specific workforce participation rates, considering variations by industry, gender and management level. It looks at common age stereotypes and the effects of implementing human resource management policies designed for a younger workforce. It outlines initiatives undertaken by leading companies such as ENI, IBM and BMW to manage an ageing workforce.

Since 1950, the proportion of the Italian population over retirement age has more than doubled. Birth rates are low and life expectancy is going up. Unless participation rates increase, Italy's labour force is likely to be 40 per cent smaller in 2050 than it was in 1995. With more people retiring and fewer potentially active workforce entrants, Italy can anticipate chronic labour shortages and a widening skills gap. How can the country increase the number of active workers available to support an older population? And how can new human resource management approaches help companies to better manage an ageing workforce?

The paper provides examples describing the human resource management approaches that can help to prevent skill shortages and loss of knowledge as older workers retire.

The paper draws attention to social and cultural factors contributing to age discrimination and the effects of negative stereotypes on older workers' motivation and on their access to training and development opportunities.

This paper highlights the importance of training as a way to overcome negative age stereotypes, using older workers as a valuable resource able to pass on knowledge, skills and company history to those just starting out on their careers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the reason for, and outcomes of, the New South Wales Land and Property Authority's (Lands) Vision 2013 plan designed to deal with a perceived impending human capital crisis in light of a rapidly ageing workforce. The research questions examined are “Did the perceived crisis eventuate?” and “What was the impact of implementing the plan to combat the threat of an ageing workforce?”

Using a case study approach, the paper incorporates semi‐structured interviews, planning papers and annual reports to critically examine the impact of implementing the Vision 2013 plan. Lands was chosen because in 2005 the ageing workforce issue motivated Lands to investigate how it would successfully manage organisational knowledge then and into the future. With the purpose of promoting discussion and critical reflection, we examine how Lands addressed the perceived crisis and the impact it had on the management of knowledge and human capital.

The ageing workforce crisis appears not to have been as significant as anticipated because of the combination of improved processes and training of new employees, allowing for knowledge transfer, making some old knowledge redundant and creating new knowledge. However, a gap exists between the new processes and tacit knowledge that can only be filled through experience. While the ageing workforce crisis seems to have abated, a new crisis of retention looms on the horizon.

The paper provides a longitudinal example of how a particular employer dealt with the threat of knowledge loss due to the retirement of older workers. It demonstrates that the threat cannot only be thwarted but can also help drive system and process improvements. The lessons learned, the authors argue, can be generalised to the public and private sector; however, they must be tempered within specific local, national and international contexts.

The paper provides a longitudinal observation of a public sector government business enterprise's implementation of a plan to address the issue of an ageing workforce. Many contemporary organisations face this issue so the results of the case study will be of value to those facing similar challenges.

The global trend of an ageing workforce and government policy directions towards reversing early retirement trends raises the issue of the costs to employers of an older workforce. Data on older workers human resources costs are lacking generally in Australia and other countries. This analysis of human resource costs and benefits relies on aggregate Australia national human resources benchmarking data that are applied to older workers. The study is based on the ratio of duration of employment of older workers compared to younger workers and uses this ratio as a multiplier of human resource costs. The analysis considers recruitment, training, absenteeism and work injuries of older compared to younger workers. The analysis found that net benefits occurred through recruitment and training benefits over the costs of absenteeism and work injuries. Further non‐quantified benefits of older workers identified in international case studies are also explained. These quantified and non‐quantified benefits of older workers suggest that identified positive inducements to employers exist which support human resources investments in older workers.

As demographic changes impact the workplace, governments, organizations, and workers are looking for ways to sustain optimal working lives at higher ages. Workplace flexibility has been introduced as a potential way workers can have more satisfying working lives until their retirement ages. This chapter presents a critical review of the literature on workplace flexibility across the lifespan. It discusses how flexibility has been conceptualized across different disciplines, and postulates a definition that captures the joint roles of employer and employee in negotiating workplace flexibility that contributes to both employee and organization benefits. Moreover, it reviews how flexibility has been theorized and investigated in relation to older workers. The chapter ends with a future research agenda for advancing understanding of how workplace flexibility may enhance working experiences of older workers, and in particular focuses on the critical investigation of uses of flexibility in relation to older workers.

This paper aims to investigate a workforce policy response to the ageing workforce, emerging social and demographic trends, ongoing and rapid change, the growth in complexity and the changing nature of work.

The main method for constructing this paper is analysis of selected texts rather than the more conventional empirical studies. The approach is that of scenario construction, guided by the criteria established by Nowotny et al. Evidence is gathered of emergent trends that affect management practices and structures now and in the foreseeable future. These trends are identified and woven into a commentary that links them in a focus on the priorities for Australian organizations.

The findings from this research suggest that “command‐based” management structures of the bureaucracy, given emergent trends, present as an impediment to organizational success. Rather, a workforce policy reform agenda for both understanding and managing noted historical conditions in a coherent way is proposed.

The conclusions of this paper are significant for large organizations faced with the dynamism of the modern era and the difficulties associated with emerging demographic and social trends. They suggest a workforce policy reform agenda for both understanding and managing these historical conditions in a coherent way.

This paper deals with a topic that is exercising policy makers in all the developed economies. It offers practical advice to assist the development of workforce policy to better manage emergent trends.

It is estimated that we spend at least a third of our working lives in the workplace and the duration of this, due to the extension of working lives through legislative changes and increased pension ages, is set to increase. Ageing of the workforce is a growing concern but health and safety issues cannot be used as an excuse for not employing older workers. A healthy workplace is one where the risks are managed and where workers and their managers work together to improve the work environment and protect the health of the workers. Furthermore, linking this to personal health resources and the local community can improve the health of all involved. Within the workplace this includes both the psychosocial and physical work environment. To create a healthy workplace there is a need to ensure risk management measures are in place and our older workers participation in risk assessment and risk reduction programmes. In addition to this, targeted occupational health promotion programmes may be beneficial. There are few integrated policies with regard to age and work but research does identify good practice, including participation of employees in change measures, senior management commitment and taking a life-course approach. While there are challenges in relation to age-related change, the work ability concept can improve understanding. The use of a comprehensive approach such as Age Management can help employers who have a critical role in making the workplace age-ready.