Keeping Older Tech Workers on the Job

Within four years, nearly a third of all U.S. workers -- including tens of thousands of tech pros -- will be over the age of 50, leaving a potential gap of business-tech and vertical industry skills. Nearly two dozen industry associations, ranging from technology to trucking organizations, have joined to create an Alliance for an Experienced Workforce, a collaborative effort aimed at getting employers to develop strategies of keeping aging American workers viable in the workplace.

"The older worker brings a benefit of knowing how things are done at a company and in an industry, and why," says John Venator, president and CEO of the Computing Technology Industry Association, a member of the new alliance. CompTIA is encouraging employers to offer older IT workers skills certification and training opportunities to help those pros acquire new tech skills that can boost their workforce relevance in the years to come.

A 2003 survey of AARP members found that 80 percent want/need to work after they're eligible for retirement, relates Emily Allen, director of workforce programs at AARP, which is a member of the new alliance. "We want to help bring these people together with the employers who'll need them."

Courtesy of InformationWeek, a CMP Media property.