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AT AND THE AGING WORKFORCE
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Business: IT Tools for an Aging Workforce, 28 Jan 2007 Source: New Straits Times Online, January 28, 2007 Article Written by: Daniel Roddy Roddy is the Country Human Capital Management Leader, IBM Malaysia. Over the next 10 years, the 'baby-boom' generation will begin retiring in large numbers. This massive demographic shift will have lasting social and business implications in most developed countries, writes DANIEL RODDY. As industrialized nations look for ways to keep their aging workforces toiling longer, employers are becoming more motivated to provide the tools that will keep knowledgeable workers sitting in front of their computer screens into their later years. Over the next 10 years, the "baby-boom" generation will begin retiring in large numbers. This massive demographic shift will have lasting social and business implications in most developed countries for the foreseeable future. The so-called "multi-generational economy" is emerging as a major social and political issue of the first part of this century. To prepare for and deal with this era, employers and employees will have to rethink conventional wisdom about retirement, and the kinds of work that provide incentives for workers to stay in the workforce in their later years. We need to take a proactive approach to address these changes in order to prevent situations that could significantly hamper business in countries with aging populations. One relatively easy solution: to provide assistive technology that will enable people to work longer. Consider these factors: Workers in developed countries are living longer because they have better health care and living conditions than their ancestors. Many of those same nations are experiencing lower fertility rates. And, fewer college students in places such as the United States are studying, math, science and engineering. As technical workers retire, there aren't enough college graduates to fill their positions. The countries in North America and Europe that posted strong economic gains in the last century are dealing with a smaller pool of workers, an aging workforce and shortages of qualified personnel. Organizations need to maintain an older and productive workforce to preserve years of valuable work experience and to avoid expensive job turnover. What should business do? These powerful marketplace forces are causing organizations to embrace accessibility tools that help workers deal with disabilities associated with aging, hearing or eyesight problems. All of us, especially as we age, could benefit from accessible IT systems that allow us to tailor the way that information is presented. There's technology available to allow aging workers to increase the size of the text on a computer screen, have the computer read the text out loud or even make a keyboard easier to use. In a 2005 IBM Global Business Services report, "Addressing the Challenges of An Aging Workforce", IBM's Institute for Business Value said that organizations need to consider the accessibility requirements of older workers. "As individuals age," the report said, "it may become more difficult to decipher smaller type faces on a screen, understand the audio portion of a streaming video, or control the hand motions necessary to use a computer mouse or similar devices requiring precise movements." The report advised businesses, when designing their computer systems, to address the needs of their users and to provide alternative mechanisms for accessing, displaying and manipulating web pages and other applications. Accessibility technologies can help the maturing workforce remain productive by providing features and functions that make information technology usable by a person with a disability. While not everybody will get a disability as they mature, it's important to have the technology available to those that do. According to the World Health Organization, between 750 million and 1 billion of the world's six billion people have a speech, vision, mobility, hearing or cognitive disability. About 420 million people worldwide are age 65 or older, and the number is expected to increase dramatically over the next two decades. The multi-generational economy, is, in many ways, an example of one of those "grand challenges" when business, society and technology are increasingly intertwined. It's one of those truly big shifts in human history that challenges our basic assumptions. The most successful societies will likely be those willing to encourage and to offer lifelong opportunities and choices to their citizens, including older people and the disabled, who historically have often been excluded from the workforce. Information technology has become so pervasive in our everyday lives that we need to make it accessible to everyone. The more that companies focus on the needs of aging and disabled users, the better position they are in to attract and retain them as customers and ensure that their own aging workforce remains productive. Roddy is the Country Human Capital Management Leader, IBM Malaysia. |
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