Ageing and work: an overview

Population ageing presents both challenges and opportunities to ensure the availability of a healthy and productive workforce. Recent European legislation requires that employers take action to ensure older workers are retained in suitable occupations. This warrants investigation of how the needs of an ageing workforce and their employers can be best met. A new view of ageing is beginning to focus on the capacity and potential of older workers. This is challenging the view of age being associated with loss in ability and decline in performance. An increasing number of research groups and projects are informing 'Ageing' policies, initiatives and practice. The current series of articles in this in-depth review of Ageing and Work are intended to make a further contribution to this area.