Blackwell Reference Online

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In the US, work performance, narrowly defined, is measured by productivity; more broadly conceived, it denotes how well individual workers master requisite skills, complete tasks, execute instructions, interact with colleagues, and contribute to the success of the enterprise. Perhaps as a holdover from the earlier part of the twentieth century, older workers often are assumed to be less productive than their younger counterparts. When worker productivity was a function of the speed of repetitive tasks in physically demanding jobs, and the “innovations” of the shorter work week led to a faster pace on the production line, the age-related declines in strength and endurance likely would have created age-related reductions in productivity. In part, these changes involved a growing role of innovative technology in the workplace; however, it was not the technological change, per se, that made work more difficult for older workers. It was the speed at which the machines were operated. The current research literature that deals with changes in productivity as workers age is inconclusive, and many of the studies refer to dated production technologies. Productivity can best be assessed in specific work contexts, not only because it is job-specific productivity that is at issue, but also because expertise and experience – two factors that tend to increase with age – can be job or even task ... log in or subscribe to read full text