Aging, Work, and Retirement: Twenty-First-Century Issues in an Interdisciplinary Context

Demographic shifts in population aging and disruption caused by technology and automation are rapidly changing the landscape of work across the globe. The current review provides a focused, forward-looking perspective on key issues relevant to workplace aging and new realities of the workplace, namely workplace learning and development, an age-diverse workforce, and retirement. Our review provides a multilevel perspective on these issues, including the macro (societal/cultural), meso (job design/organizational climate and HR practices), and micro (individual health, wealth, traits, and motivation) factors that influence workplace aging. We also apply lifespan development theories that describe normative and individual influences on aging to the work context, particularly regarding socio-emotional selectivity theory, and process models of successful aging at work. We conclude by providing practical implications and presenting areas of future research that are the most pressing in the workplace of the twenty-first century, including specific research questions at multiple levels (i.e., macro, meso, and micro).