UN World Population Day celebrated every July 11 puts the spotlight on the urgency and importance of population topics such as longevity. Life expectancies have been increasing for decades; the majority of children born in rich countries today can expect to live to be over 100 years old. That’s great, but it has implications as well.
Living longer means that the number of options in how we structure our lives is going to explode. For instance, in the future, managers may be young and apprentices old. You could have different jobs or professions, or decide to break up your working life to take time to travel or raise your children. “Retirement time” won’t have to be just tacked on at the end.
In this new world, age will no longer be a predictor of occupation or learning. A 21-year-old today is likely still in school. In a multistage life, this would be just as true for a 40- or 60-year-old as it is for a 20-year-old, complicating matters for employers, who will have to consider flexible work packages and human resource policies. Pay rises will no longer be aligned with age, but will be based on a fair and accurate assessment of performance. Infrequent breaks will also become more common. Sounds agile and flexible?
Read more on how an increasing life expectancy forces societies to adapt to multistage lives at PROJECT M.
UN World Population Day
In the future, apprentices might be older than their managers.
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