Employment at older ages and the changing nature of work

This report looks at a range of job demands faced by contemporary workers in the US, how these have changed over time, and what they could possibly be like in the future. By linking information on occupational characteristics from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) to the March 1971 and March 2006 Current Population Surveys, the authors discover a sharp decline in the physical demands of jobs over the past 35 years. Not only are jobs less physically demanding, they are less likely to involve difficult working conditions. However, jobs have become more cognitively challenging and more stressful. In the future, the authors conclude that the prevalence of job demands will not change much in coming decades if the occupational growth trends projected by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics continue through 2041 and if the job demands of particular occupations remain constant. They suggest that this is a good scenario for the employability of older adults and the extension of working lives.

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