Today's employees are happy to work forever

People who are currently part of the workforce will likely continue to work until they die - but not because they have to, but because they want to.

According to a study of British workers by The Future Consultancy, age will no longer be a barrier to work in 2030, as the country gears up to support and "ageless workforce".

Interviewing a range of experts such as academics, authors, scientists, editors, anthropologists and sociologists and 1,000 workers across multiple industries, the study concluded that today's 40-somethings are prepared to work for another 30 years.

“The ageless workplace allows ‘returnment’ instead of retirement and enables people to work forever," the report said. "This trend stems from a need to be energised to continue to work until a later age because one wants to, rather than has to.”

Thanks to increased life expectancy and better health care, employees now feel more energised and productive, and are therefore willing to work for longer.

"It’s something some workers welcome,” Mark Beatson, chief economist at CIPD, said in the report. “They think it’s a way of maintaining social connections and doing something useful, and of making the financial transition from full-time work to part-time work into retirement easier.”

So what does this mean for employers? If people are working for longer, there's more pressure on a business to ensure HR policies and programmes are aligned to keeping employees engaged, motivated and productive for longer.

Indeed, this is what many countries are working towards already - Singapore being a perfect example of a nation attempting to boost its productivity by encouraging employers to re-employ older workers.

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Although one might argue this is more often out of necessity than desire, the fact remains that incentives and programmes are needed to keep older employees on board.

What do you think will be the biggest issues companies will face in an "ageless workforce"? Write to us in the comment section below.

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