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Aging Workforce

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A Critical Review of Nancy B. Kiyonaga, 2004, Today is the Tomorrow -You Worried About Yesterday: Meeting the Challenges of a Changing Workforce.
New York: Public Personnel Management publications, Vol. 33/4/ 361.

Introduction

The demographic dynamics, economic and social consequences of aging workforce in the developed nations particularly Europe and United States presents significant challenges for the coming decades. In the recent times this topic has developed a sense of urgency and is receiving much attention from researchers, policy-makers and the popular media.

Without a pro-active approach and appropriate action, the sustainability of social and economic security would be at stake and a labour and skill shortage will become a global issue. European policies have increasingly started to focus on raising the labour-market participation of ageing people, restricting or abandoning possibilities for early labour-market exit, and increasing the age at which people are eligible for pensions.

In the article ‘Today is the Tomorrow -You Worried About Yesterday: Meeting the Challenges of a Changing Workforce’ Nancy B. Kiyonaga draws the attention to the crucial issue of aging workforce. She has also tried to suggest a solution ‘workforce and succession planning’ as the tool to this critical challenge especially in the public sector organisations which are more vulnerable to the affects of the aging workforce.

Nancy B. Kiyonaga herself being the director of Workforce and Occupational Planning and adjunct professor of public administration her focus on the role of human resource management is praiseworthy.

The article focuses on the primary issues like, the impact of ‘aging out’ of the baby boom workforce on economic, social and political events; the form of retirement or aftermath of retirement; what can the employers do about the aging workforce,

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