Outlines components of workplace learning environments: individual/collective skill learning, learning to learn, and higher-order organizational learning. Suggests that studies counting only formal training discount older workers' participation in informal and work-based learning. Related learning environment characteristics to assumptions about…

Identifies some of the likely effects of the Senior Citizens' Freedom To Work Act of 2000 on the retirement decisions of professors approaching their normal retirement age as they learn about the added income opportunities created by the new rules. Discusses the Act's potential impact on faculty turnover rates, academic staffing patterns, and the…

Uncertainty about identity and the future is occurring at a stage of life when people do question what they have achieved and what they still want to achieve. The notion of midlife crisis has been in existence for some time but recently its occurrence has coincided with opportunities to take early retirement or redundancy. This has meant that the…

Career theory, to date, has provided several frameworks for understanding how employees develop during their careers. However, these frameworks have not yet directly examined the criteria older workers use to evaluate their success in aging in the workplace. In the present study, the authors develop an inventory of tentative criteria for…

Regions around the country are grappling with current and anticipated skills shortages and, in some cases, labor shortages. Economic prosperity depends heavily on the quality of the workforce, and yet far too few regions have recognized their best underutilized asset: the mature workforce. Because mature workers are nearing traditional retirement…

It is commonly believed that teacher turnover is unusually high and that this is a sign of failure in the education system. Previous studies have tested this idea by comparing teacher turnover with that of similar professions, but have come to contradictory conclusions. We provide additional evidence by comparing teachers with professionals from…

Older workers appear more sensitive to labor market conditions in discouragement trms as well as on regular measures of labor force participation. Thus, the age-mismatch group is especially important in the interpretation of discouraged worker patterns. (Author)

A review of the literature concerning the vocational adjustment of older disabled persons shows that 10-15% of these individuals are interested in being employed. With rehabilitation and training, these older persons can be helped to some level of employment. The major deterrents have been the negative attitudes of employers and the lack of…

Discusses the economic crisis and subsequent employment problems that have had substantial consequences for older workers in France. Offers alternatives including a flexible career cycle in which working periods would alternate with long periods of training and leisure time throughout a career. (JOW)

An analysis by age of 275 occupations at Lockheed-California revealed the characteristics of essentially "young" and "old" occupations. The article suggests that the transfer of older people into technology-generated occupations is a distinct possibility, given accurate information and guidance. (Author/AG)

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data indicate that earnings losses were large for the first 3 years after displacement, but for young adults they were short lived. After 5 years, shortfall in earnings was 9% for men and 12.5% for women. For older workers, losses represent actual, immediate earnings losses; for younger workers, loss of…

Comparison of union retirees in North America and Europe shows similar challenges facing unions: increased diversity and the changing nature of union membership, appropriate role of unions vis-a-vis other organizations representing older persons, and unions' role in changing employment practices regarding older workers. (SK)

Three hundred employers in a suburban area of the Pacific Northwest were surveyed for their perceptions of older (ages 50 and over) and younger (aged 49 and under) workers on 12 attributes. In contrast to previous research, this study found more favorable ratings for older workers overall, including categories such as attendance and salary…

Interviews with 12 older (ages 60 to 78) and 12 younger (ages 38 to 53) administrators showed that they had similar perceptions of the physical features and privacy issues in the workplace that facilitate or impede work. Structural accommodations may not be necessary for older workers, but attention to design and privacy issues is necessary for…

To assist targeted employee recruitment efforts toward specific subgroups of the population, principles for recruiting older workers, Generation Xers, and members of minority groups are presented. (Contains 47 notes and references.) (JOW)