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Moving beyond assumptions about age and technological capability The relationship between age and technology has generated some remarkably persistent stereotypes…younger workers are described as digital natives, and older workers are assumed to struggle with technological change. And now, as artificial intelligence becomes embedded within working life, those assumptions risk being reproduced in a new form. But perhaps we are asking the wrong question, instead of asking which generation is best equipped for AI, organisations might ask - Under what conditions does AI enable people to work effectively? New academic research provides an interesting contribution to that discussion. Published in the August 2026 edition of the Journal of Vocational Behavior, research by Mingyan Han and Jingyou Zhao examines the relationship between employee-AI collaboration and what researchers describe as successful ageing at work. Their findings challenge the assumption that more interaction with AI necessarily produces greater benefit, instead, they identify an inverted [...]

A sustainable workforce needs to work for people at both ends, and throughout the middle Two apparently contradictory workforce conversations are taking place simultaneously. In one, governments and employers are considering how people can remain economically active for longer as populations age. In the other, growing numbers of younger people are struggling to establish themselves in work at all. Taken separately, these can look like different policy problems…viewed together, they expose a deeper question about how well our employment systems support people across the working life course. Recent UK evidence illustrates the tension. The Office for National Statistics figures show that an estimated 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 were not in employment, education or training during April to June 2026. That represented 13% of the age group. Although the figure fell by 30,000 compared with the previous quarter, it remained 30,000 higher than a year earlier. The ONS also [...]

The debate about longer working lives has understandably focused on older workers, but what if the bigger challenge is not how organisations accommodate people later in their careers, but whether work itself is designed for careers that may now span five or six decades? For much of the conversation about demographic change and employment, attention has understandably focused on older workers. We ask how people can be encouraged to remain economically active for longer, we consider what might persuade experienced employees to delay retirement, and we debate pension ages, flexible working and how organisations can retain valuable knowledge before it walks out of the door. These are important questions, but there is a danger that, by concentrating so heavily on the end of working life, we begin the conversation too late. Because the real consequence of longevity may not simply be that organisations employ more older workers. it may be [...]

New evidence suggests workforce pressures can change behaviour, but they do not automatically remove bias. Skills shortages create an apparently simple economic argument for inclusion. When organisations struggle to find people with the capabilities they need, excluding potential talent because of age should become increasingly difficult to justify…yet organisational behaviour is rarely quite that rational. New research published in the European Journal of Ageing examines the relationship between age-based stereotypes, recruitment and training among German employers, and asks whether labour shortages and digitalisation alter those decisions, the findings provide an important reminder. Need does not automatically eliminate bias. Using representative employer data from the 2024 BIBB Training Panel, researchers Philipp Heyer, Wiebke Schmitz and Kathrin Weis analysed responses from 1,310 organisations. They found a clear relationship between employers' age-based stereotypes and decisions affecting older workers. The more negatively organisational decision-makers perceived older employees, the lower the proportion of older workers [...]

New research challenges the simplicity of how organisations interpret age at work: When managers look at an employee, what are they actually seeing? Their chronological age? Their generation? The number of years they have spent inside the organisation? Or the professional experience they have accumulated throughout their career? The distinction matters because these characteristics are frequently intertwined. A long-serving employee may also be older, a recent recruit may be younger, and an experienced professional may have spent decades within the same organisation. That makes it easy to attribute a behaviour or characteristic to age when something quite different may be responsible. Recent research published in the European Management Journal provides an important lens through which to examine this problem. Anne Skevik Grødem and Hege Sofie Hesselberg interviewed 20 managers across three large Norwegian organisations in finance, technology and facility services. Rather than finding managers interpreting employees simply through chronological age, [...]

Why the organisations that thrive tomorrow are beginning to think differently today There are occasions when a series of seemingly unrelated events begin to reveal a much larger story. During the past month, economists have warned that age discrimination may carry a significant cost to future productivity. European analysts have highlighted the profound demographic transformation already reshaping labour markets. Governments continue to explore how longer working lives can support economic resilience, while international organisations increasingly speak with remarkable consistency about the importance of lifelong learning, workforce participation and organisational adaptability. Viewed individually, these are separate developments, viewed together, they suggest that the future of work is entering a period of fundamental change. For many organisations, the instinctive response to demographic change is to ask how they should support older workers. It is an understandable question, but perhaps no longer the most useful one. A more important question is beginning to [...]

Why international organisations are beginning to speak with one voice about the future of work There are moments when individual reports begin to form a much bigger picture. Taken in isolation, a new OECD publication, a European Commission analysis or an International Labour Organization briefing may appear to address different issues. One might focus on labour shortages, another on demographic change, another on productivity or lifelong learning. Look more closely, however, and a striking pattern begins to emerge. Across governments, international institutions, economists and labour market specialists, there is growing agreement that the future prosperity of organisations and economies will depend upon how successfully they harness the talents of increasingly multigenerational workforces. This represents an important shift in the global conversation. Only a few years ago, age inclusion was often regarded as a specialist diversity issue, discussed primarily by equality professionals or employment campaigners. Today, it is increasingly being examined [...]

What France’s rise in older-worker employment tells us about the future of work France has reached an important milestone in the changing relationship between age and employment. Figures released at the end of July showed that the employment rate among people aged 60-64 had risen to 44.4 per cent in 2025, its highest level for around 50 years. The rate increased by 2.1 percentage points in a single year and has risen substantially since the early 2000s, when employment among this age group was close to its historical low. The latest increase has been linked partly to pension reforms that are gradually raising France’s statutory retirement age from 62 to 64. At first sight, this appears to be a straightforward story about people remaining in employment for longer. The more important question, however, is what kind of employment awaits them. As governments respond to population ageing and increasing pressure on [...]