Thursday, April 23, 2015
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation-Backed Study Examines the Role of Older Workers in Small Business
A variety of simultaneous trends are keeping more Americans in the workforce longer, and a newly published series of guides suggests that we should not only encourage that trend but think differently about how older workers can most benefit the workforce. It’s important to our nation’s well being and the public’s health that older Americans have the opportunity to stay engaged, playing active roles – at work or in their communities – for as long as possible. These guides underscore that there are strategic opportunities for older workers to strengthen America’s workforce – and especially the small businesses that constitute 99.7 percent of U.S. employer firms, according to the Small Business Administration.
The Age Smart Industry Guides – available free at Age Smart Employer NYC – are published by the Columbia Aging Center at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, with funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. They draw upon interviews with more than 100 small business owners and advisors in New York City, conducted under the direction of Ruth Finkelstein, ScD, Associate Director of the Columbia Aging Center. The interviews illuminate multiple ways older workers can benefit small businesses....