The employment rate for workers 55 and over has been increasing across the world for the last two decades. This creates opportunities for employers to diversify their workforce and retain valuable knowledge and skills, while at the same time posing the challenges of rising labor costs and blocked opportunities for younger workers. This study summarizes the economic tradeoffs facing organizations as they design their optimal age structure, along with recent research on how older workers fit into organizations. Empirical studies show that whereas wage and benefit costs increase with age, there is no conclusive evidence that productivity increases as well. Studies using macroeconomic data find no evidence that older workers block opportunities for younger workers, whereas recent papers using a more disaggregated approach find mixed results. A key challenge facing older workers is the decline over the last 20 years in the odds of becoming a new hire. Although the turnover rate for older workers is much lower than for other age groups, employers have concerns about accommodating their work environment and work schedule preferences. Resume studies show age discrimination also plays a factor, especially for women. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research, including interindustry and international comparisons of microeconomic data on employment by age group and re-examining matched employee-employer data sets.

过去二十年来，全世界 55 岁及以上工人的就业率一直在上升。这为雇主创造了使劳动力多样化并保留宝贵知识和技能的机会，同时也带来了劳动力成本上升和年轻工人机会受阻的挑战。本研究总结了组织在设计最佳年龄结构时面临的经济权衡，以及最近关于老年员工如何适应组织的研究。实证研究表明，虽然工资和福利成本随着年龄的增长而增加，但没有确凿的证据表明生产率也会提高。使用宏观经济数据的研究没有发现证据表明年长的工人阻碍了年轻工人的机会，而最近使用更分类方法的论文发现了混合的结果。年长员工面临的一个主要挑战是过去 20 年成为新员工的几率下降。尽管年长员工的离职率远低于其他年龄段的员工，但雇主担心是否会适应他们的工作环境和工作时间安排偏好。简历研究表明，年龄歧视也是一个因素，尤其是对女性而言。本文最后提出了对未来研究的建议，包括按年龄组对就业微观经济数据进行行业间和国际比较，以及重新检查匹配的雇员-雇主数据集。雇主担心适应他们的工作环境和工作时间表偏好。简历研究表明，年龄歧视也是一个因素，尤其是对女性而言。本文最后提出了对未来研究的建议，包括按年龄组对就业微观经济数据进行行业间和国际比较，以及重新检查匹配的雇员-雇主数据集。雇主担心适应他们的工作环境和工作时间表偏好。简历研究表明，年龄歧视也是一个因素，尤其是对女性而言。本文最后提出了对未来研究的建议，包括按年龄组对就业微观经济数据进行行业间和国际比较，以及重新检查匹配的雇员-雇主数据集。