Longevity Redefines Work
Wellness industry opportunities will arise to support a 65+ workforce, because without productive older employees, economies will fail. The world will wake up: healthspan equals workspan.
By David Stewart
The Situation: Yes, Longevity, but Few Babies
We all know that an “age bomb” and fertility freefall isn’t just coming, it’s here. Global life expectancy has grown by seven years since 1997 (to age 73) and is forecast to hit age 77 by 2025. It’s much higher in developed nations, and, according to the UN, people 100 years or older are the fastest-growing age group. But what’s really disrupting demographics is the staggering decline in fertility. Across OECD nations, by 2022 the fertility rate had already fallen to 28% below the 2.1 births per woman required to sustain a stable population. Two-thirds of people worldwide now live in a country below that rate. North America and Europe have the world’s lowest fertility at 1.4 and 1.6 births per woman, respectively. The UN Population Fund, which just sounded its strongest alarm on “the unprecedented decline in fertility rates,” estimates that populations in many major economies will plummet by 20-50% by 2050. This month, it was announced that there were nearly a million more deaths than births in Japan! Experts say that, except for Africa, we’re all likely to “become Japan.”
Pew Research recently highlighted how countries are encouraging women to have children through measures like financial incentives, expanded parental leave and increased access to child care. Yet there is limited evidence that such policies––even the more aggressive ones––are moving the needle on fertility rates.
Older Workers = Economy Saviors
The future? An old world with few young people, all happening faster than experts predicted. Our trend explores how national economies and companies will not survive the workforce shortages without radically rethinking how to attract, retain, creatively manage, and support older people in the workforce, so more can work productively longer. Many forces are driving people to work longer: real financial needs, their valuable knowledge and expertise, and a 4% GDP increase that countries receive for every year of increased work participation.
Older workers are already providing some economic salvation. Just a few stats: in Europe, 90% of the workforce growth in the last decade (17 million employees) came from workers over 50; in advanced economies and China, older workers are already the main drivers of GDP growth; and while hard to believe, the fastest-growing workforce age group globally is represented by those over 75 (OECD).
But in order to turn the world’s increased longevity from a crisis into an opportunity, far more significant changes need to happen fast, at both the company and government policy levels. Yes, more governments will keep raising the retirement age, like Denmark, which will raise it to 70 (the highest in the world) by 2040.
Our trend, however, explores how innovative, age-inclusive employment strategies, policies and workplaces are beginning to emerge, reimagining how older workers could stay on and adapt in an age where the concept of retirement as a hard break is coming undone.
And more experts are now arguing that we will never be able to create a global economy-saving, healthy older workforce without huge policy and corporate shifts towards healthspan and prevention, which will create unprecedented future opportunities for the wellness industry.
Crucial Strategies for An Aging Workforce:
Flexi-Work: While most companies have “everyone is treated the same” work policies/structures, to attract and retain older workers, all kinds of flexibility are key: the ability to work remotely, for example, or the option for part-time schedules, compressed work weeks, and consultant and independent contract roles. The banking giant HSBC is pioneering such flexi-work.
Constant Upskilling: In an ever-changing skills- and tech-based world, more companies like India’s Tata Consultancy Services are pioneering continuous learning programs for older employees. The future: under-utilized educational institutions could become centers for re-schooling and up-schooling the older worker.
Mentorship Programs: More companies, like Siemens in Germany, will create structured mentorship programs, so older workers can share their deep experience and train the next generation.
Reverse Mentoring: Multi-generational workplaces, where three, or someday even four, generations work side-by-side can be difficult. More multinationals like Estee Lauder and General Electric are creating programs where senior employees are mentored by younger ones, to create intergenerational communication and allow older workers stay ahead of tech and trends.
Singapore, always a wellness policy star, is working hard to turn a fast-aging workforce into economic gain. They have raised the re-employment age, provided wage offsets to companies that hire older workers, and created their SkillsFuture program, which retrains workers over 65. And—most importantly—they have an extremely accessible and affordable healthcare system that keeps people healthy and employed for longer. The mega-drugstore CVS Health is a shining corporate example, supporting older workers with flex time, short work weeks, job sharing, remote work, and ongoing career education by working with local community colleges. They’re even recruiting older customers to become employees through their “Talent Is Ageless” program.
Healthspan Is the Path to Workspan: Wellness Industry Opportunities Ahead
When you think “healthspan” now, you may think rich people at longevity clinics: a more self-centered and niche market. But more economics experts, like London Business School professor Andrew Scott (see article below), are arguing that if we ever want to face the aging population and plummeting workforce crises, governments will need to focus intensely and broadly on healthspan: there needs to be a major shift towards preventative health and wellness, and it needs to start in childhood.
The world needs to wake up. If we don’t create solutions that put workers on a path of healthy, productive, longer lives our economies will fail. This requires more policies around everything: from physical activity to mental wellness and “brainspan,” to real financial wellness. The desperate global need to extend workspan will drive much bigger future investments in healthspan, from both governments and companies. It will be a key future tailwind for the wellness space.
“Longevity Redefines Work” is just one of ten in-depth trends in the GWS’s The Future of Wellness: 2025 report. Purchase it here.
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