Older Workers

In times of demographic change, researchers and practitioners have become increasingly interested in the group of “older workers.” Due to population aging in most developed and also many developing countries, members of this group make up a growing proportion of the workforce. Older workers are typically distinguished from the group of “young workers” and sometimes also from the group of “middle-aged workers.” The cut-off used to distinguish the group of older workers from the groups of young and/or middle-aged workers varies across literature sources and institutions that use such cut-offs, from as young as forty years to forty-five or fifty years and older. Typically no upper age cut-off is specified, and older workers belong to this group until they retire. Numerous sources in the literature describe the individual characteristics and actual and desired work characteristics and working conditions of the group of older workers. Moreover, many sources distinguish older workers from other age groups in terms of individual characteristics (e.g., physiological and cognitive abilities, personality, motivation), actual and desired contextual characteristics (e.g., work characteristics, working conditions, leadership, human resource practices, organizational culture and climate), and work-related outcomes (e.g., job attitudes, work performance, occupational health and well-being). This Oxford Bibliographies article provides an overview of the most important general overviews, edited books, and academic journals on older workers.