[Cognitive competence of older workers]

The article provides a short overview on cognitive strengths and weaknesses of older workers. The older people who are under the age of 65 years already exhibit changes in performance and neurophysiological measures in laboratory tasks that test fluid intelligence. Apart from deficits, the physiological data of the older people show clear evidence for compensatory strategies. Cognitive performance on the current job is usually less impaired. This can be explained by practice, learning, and selection, which are, however, often linked with higher effort. The cognitive competence of older employees varies exorbitantly, which is due to the influence of various factors like education, lifestyle, and in particular the type of work. Thus, the cognitive competence of older employees can be preserved and possibly even enhanced by changes in the work situation as well as by individual training procedures such as cognitive training.