Logging Industry in the United States: Employment and Profitability

This study analyzed logging industry employment and profitability in recent decades in the U.S. based on Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI), Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), and Timber Product Output (TPO) Reports. The logging industry in the U.S. has experienced reduced employment with an aging workforce over the past two decades. The changes might be related to increased productivity from mechanization, combined with reduced demand for logging, but estimates of capital and labor productivity for logging are not available. To overcome the data limitation, a simple and cost-effective economic model, Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) Model, was applied to estimate the profitability of the entire industry at a state level. It was found that the reduced demand and increased operating costs led to poor profitability and a wave of closures of logging firms but also accelerated the adjustment in the logging industry. Serious challenges facing the forestry sector include the lack of an effective monitoring tool for the logging industry, structural shortage of logging labor, and rising operating costs.

Organizational Practices for the Aging Workforce: Validation of an English Version of the Later Life Workplace Index

Due to aging workforces, research on organizational practices for older employees becomes more important for individuals and organizations. However, existing measures for such organizational practices tend to capture the construct with unidimensional scales, use single-item operationalizations, or focus on a specific area. Hence, Wöhrmann, Deller, and Pundt (2018) developed the Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI) to provide a multidimensional framework to measure organizational practices for older employees on nine dimensions, namely organizational climate, leadership, work design, health management, individual development, knowledge management, transition to retirement, continued employment after retirement, and health and retirement coverage. The LLWI has recently been operationalized and validated in Germany (Wilckens, Wöhrmann, Deller, & Wang, 2020). However, to utilize the index beyond German-speaking countries, a validated English version is required. Thus, we aimed to validate an English version of the LLWI using a sample of older U.S. employees (N = 279). Results support the domain level factor structure of the LLWI but show some redundancy among the 80 items for the overall nine domain factor structure. A comparison between the U.S. sample and a German sample (N = 349) confirmed configural and (partial) metric measurement invariance of the English version. Results further supported convergent, discriminant, criterion, as well as incremental validity. Researchers can utilize the new measure to gain a deeper understanding of organizational practices relevant for older employees, while practitioners are able to assess their organizational readiness for an aging workforce. We envision further translation and validation in other languages and cultural contexts.

Adult Learning and Employment Opportunities for Older Workers in Australia and the United States: Lessons for Adult Education

This study examined the role community colleges (U.S.) and Technical and Further Education (TAFE; Australia) institutes play in providing educational opportunities to older workers in the U.S. and Australia. Employment for adults of all ages has been impacted by job automation in recent decades. We analyzed national level data to estimate the impacts of job automation by age group. In both the U.S. and Australia, about 65% of older workers in sales occupations are at risk for job loss due to automation. Additionally, we reviewed occupational projection data and employment opportunities for workers who may be displaced by automation. Needs for health care support occupations, such as nursing assistants and occupational and physical therapy assistants are expected to grow rapidly. We will provide several recommendations based on the integration of our findings related to education/training programs and the aging workforce in the context of community colleges and TAFEs.

Community College Gerontology Programs: Revisiting and Re-Visioning Workforce, Career Pathways, and Transfer

The session will focus on new and existing innovative ways that Community Colleges are effectively addressing workforce needs resulting from a rapidly aging population; the ever-expanding career pathways available to students in the field of gerontology; as well as the continuing higher education needs of students transferring to bachelor’s and graduate-level gerontology programs. A panel of Community College and University gerontology professionals, representing both the GSA Community College and Aging Workforce Interest Groups, will share the innovative ways that they are working to address the three focus areas of this symposium. We will also include opportunities for discussion with participants about their experiences with and ideas for addressing these issues.

An Aging Nursing Workforce: Thematic Analysis from the Nurstory Project

Background Nursing in the United States of America is an aging workforce. This study sought to better understand the lived experience of aging nurses. Because nurses work in systems where other forms of interpersonal power dynamics may influence internalized and external stereotype an approach based on intersectional theory was applied. Methods A qualitative thematic narrative analysis of an existing data set of first-person digital stories in the Nurstory project, authored by a group of nurses, was the data source. An emergent coding method was applied. The collection of five digital stories were analyzed. Results All stories were first person accounts of experiences that represented their internalized reflections and elements of ageism in how their age interacted with their work environment. Dominant themes included: 1) Role constriction 2) Strength 3) Tired and (re)Tired 4) Age perceived and 5)Loneliness. Conclusions These aging nursing stories add to the contextual layers of the aging healthcare workplace and aging nursing workforce. These individual experiences offer a nuanced understanding of the internalized responses to aging and ageism. These stories highlight socially constructed and socially reinforced attitudes that are complicated by the personal and occupational expectations of nurse’s work, their role and embedded hierarchies in healthcare. Stories such as these are important individual and collective indicators of lived experiences that offer a deeper understanding into the intersections of social identity and aging, that when listened to, can offer insight and a way forward in addressing the stereotype, discrimination and social inequities of ageism.

Employers’ Response to Workers With Progressive Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Literature Review

An aging workforce increases the risk of workers experiencing cognitive decline that may lead to a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or early onset dementia (MCI|EOD) while still employed. This systematic review explores the use of technologies (defined as any methods, processes, software, hardware or equipment) deployed by employers to accommodate, or build sustainable workspaces for, workers diagnosed with MCI|EOD. After screening 3,860 titles/abstracts and 67 full text reviews, we identified and analyzed eight articles that met our inclusion criteria. We found that: 1) The existing literature almost exclusively focuses on employees’ perspectives on the quality of work life when diagnosed with MCI|EOD, 2) Negative workspace culture toward employees’ cognitive decline, and the variability of disease onset and progression, may account for low employer awareness, 3) Employer responses focus on mitigation of risk associated with workers’ impairment. While this review demonstrates there is scant research exploring employers’ perspectives on employees diagnosed with MCI|EOD, there is even less that explores technologies designed to specifically address employers’ needs and challenges. Technology will increasingly facilitate early identification of progressive neuro-cognitive disorders, and tools to help employers respond to an employee’s MCI|EOD disclosure as a disability accommodation rather than a terminal performance management challenge. Empathic research, that engages organizations in the process of understanding the value of affordable, employer-side technologies that help build diverse, sustainable, productive workspaces is critical to a foundational understanding of our aging workforce and accommodating workers who develop MCI|EOD while still employed.

How Are Rural Youths’ Agricultural Skills? Empirical Results and Implications in Southwest China

Global agriculture is facing an aging workforce and successor crisis, while the degradation of rural youths’ agricultural skills, which is indeed a concrete manifestation of young agricultural labor loss, has received little attention. Based on data from 1902 questionnaires in rural Southwest China, this study draws on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the degradation of their skills to deepen the insights into the relationship between rural youth and agriculture. We found that rural youth have much lower agricultural skills than rural middle-aged and elderly residents, and their agricultural skills vary depending on gender, age, and occupation. Rural young non-agricultural workers’ large proportion among rural youth and low skills are the main sources of the reduction in rural youths’ skills. According to ordered logistic regression analysis, rural young non-agricultural workers who are older, have less education per person in their household, and have a larger cultivated land size have higher skills. As for rural students, 65.44% of the rural students have no skills, age and family’s agricultural income are significant positive influencing factors of their agricultural skills, and female youth have higher agricultural skills. The results provide references for policymakers to formulate targeted policies to cultivate rural young agricultural successors.

The Role of Working Memory and Attention in Older Workers’ Learning

<p class="0abstract">Nowadays, the aging workforce constitutes a worldwide reality in developed countries due to the population aging phenomenon. Consequently, it becomes urgent for the older workers’ learning to be enhanced for their personal development first, and then for the general progress of the organization. Working memory and attention play a crucial supporting role in older workers’ learning and contribute significantly to their active work life. This article presents the concepts of working memory and attention and their intertwined relationship highlighting their important role in the aging workforce learning. Alongside, the presented theoretical aspects may give the trigger for the greater interest for further research and study of key factors in working environments, which may affect the working memory and attention functioning in older workers, so that to be integrated into the future planning of corporate learning programs. </p>