Massachusetts: Two Reports Focus on Rise in Older Worker Population and on Retaining Older Workers

Commonwealth Corporation released two new reports focusing on the aging population in Massachusetts, its effect on the labor supply, and strategies for retaining older workers. Among other things, according to the reports, by 2020, almost 27% of Massachusetts workers will be age 55 or older, Already some industries have a high percentage of older workers--in education and health services, almost a quarter of employees are 55 or older, and in repair, maintenance and personal services, the number is 28.2%.

One report--“The Increased Presence of Older Workers in the Massachusetts Labor Market”--provides an overview of trends in the labor force among the nation's older population and presents more recent labor market outcomes of older workers in the nation and in Massachusetts. This report also examines the industries and occupations in which older workers in Massachusetts are employed and the change across the different industries/occupations.

The other report--“Retaining Older Workers”--summarizes the projects that participated in Commonwealth Corporation's Older Worker Retention Strategies Grants funded by the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund and presents findings and lessons learned from the pilot projects.

The reports are joint projects of Commonwealth Corporation and the Center for Labor Markets and Policy at Drexel University and Community Matters, respectively.

Sources: Commonwealth Corporation News Release (July 20, 2011); Boston Globe "A jobs pinch for the ages" (July 21, 2011)