The challenges of an ageing workforce: an introduction to the workforce management issues

Abstract

The intention of this special issue is to provide new insights into a range of the challenges facing Australia and some of our regional economic partners that have occurred due to our rapidly ageing populations and workforces. The attraction and retention of older workers have become an imperative for governments, industry managers, unions and others, in order to maximise their contributions and enable integration as well as realise the potential of both older and younger employees in the Australian and Asian labour markets. The five papers in this volume provide some valuable insights into these challenges and suggest ways of addressing them.

Keywords:

• ageing workforce
• HRM challenges
• older worker ‘problem’
• workforce management

Acknowledgements

The editors of the special issue acknowledge the support and encouragement of the journal editors. We also thank the referees who helped to improve the quality of the papers. Finally, we acknowledge the support of the School of Management, Curtin University, in funding a research workshop on this topic which assisted in bringing together many of the authors and papers in this collection.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Julia Connell

Julia Connell is Director, Researcher Development at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), and Adjunct Professor of Management, Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Australia. Julia has published over 80 refereed journal articles/book chapters and co-edited five books on topics related to employment, change and organisational effectiveness.

Alan Nankervis

Alan Nankervis is Adjunct Professor of HRM, Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Australia. He has more than 150 publications on HRM-related issues, including a dozen co-authored or co-edited books and numerous book chapters, journal articles and conference papers.

John Burgess

John Burgess is Professor of HRM at Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Australia. Particular areas of interest where he has published extensively encompass: work, workplaces and labour market policy, particularly in relation to contingent labour. John has been the recipient of numerous grants on related topics and is on the editorial board of five human resource management/industrial relations journals.