Nearly two-thirds of the largest corporations (those over 25,000 employees) have identified the need for a larger and more skilled workforce to offset the anticipated loss of older workers.

If older women have increased opportunities to remain productive, there’s a good chance this trajectory can be adjusted. Their accumulated decades of skills, reliability and experience count for much. These positive traits offset the worry that older persons are not as technologically advanced as their younger counterparts. Although recent unemployment numbers show lessened concern, in reality, there is a looming work shortage. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2008 “Report of the Taskforce on the Aging of the American Workforce,” (PDF) this comes as a result of baby boomers retiring over the next few years. This problem won’t be fixed by an influx of workers graduating from college, because there just won’t be enough of them. Instead of seeking external migration, why not nurture the resources already available? Namely, older women in the workplace. Boomers, many of whom would otherwise be retired, can help fill that worker shortage. But, our mindset has to be open to accommodate them if this nation expects to effectively confront the looming work shortage. Discrimination against older women (or, for that matter, encouraging retirement too early) comes at the detriment of addressing this pressing issue.