How does Work From Home affect older people?
During these unprecedented times, some people are working harder than ever before as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, while others have lost their jobs, could only work remotely, and must rethink their work practices. It’s unlikely that employees will be able to return to their company’s offices any time soon. The cases of COVID-19 are on the surge once more due to the new variants, especially the Delta variant. As a consequence, remote working will continue to affect operations and hiring for the coming years. Thus, employers must ensure that their older employees are taken into account when making strategic or operational choices.
Let us take a look at how working from home (WFH) affects the older generation. According to recent research from IT services provider Atlas Cloud, work from home during lockdown improved work-life balance significantly — but that’s only for people above the age of 55. However, according to the Resolution Foundation data,with nearly constant employment growth for older employees throughout the mid-1990s, employment among adults ages 50 to 69 has fallen 1.4 percent ever since the start of the pandemic. Thus, unemployment during a pandemic might have a significant influence on older employees’ retirement planning. But since the beginning of Covid-19, the public sector, corporations, and entertainment providers have been significantly reliant on digital technology to communicate with their stakeholders. Given that digital exclusion rises with age, there are crucial issues concerning how our society’s growing dependence on technology has impacted the elderly.
But let us remind ourselves that older employees can use new tech just as well as anybody else.
However, they bring something more to the physical workplace. Older staff are important as they act as advisors and educators to their younger colleagues. For employers, their knowledge and expertise may be a competitive advantage. They are a crucial component of the economy and will become much more so in the coming years.
