The Baby Boomer Generation - Old, Smart, Productive

There is a popular assumption that we slow down as we get older. Medics used to believe that once muscle strength was lost for example, there was little chance of regaining it. Later research by Walter Frontera and Maria Fiatarone proved that this is not true. They have established that age doesn't matter and you don't have to loose muscle strength as you grow older. Furthermore, even if you have lost it, you can regain it through simple resistance training.

We've been focusing a lot on generation Y and I felt the need to re-address the balance a bit. Are we saying that we need to focus totally on the young, bright things? No, definitely not. The most important thing is to play to individuals' strengths - no matter what their age. Mature employees bring experience, maturity, energy and focus.

I found this article most interesting. It describes how rather than being an economic deadweight, the next generation of older Americans is likely to make a much bigger contribution to the economy than many of today's forecasts predict. An analysis by BusinessWeek finds that increased productivity of older Americans and higher labor-force participation could add 9% to gross domestic product by 2045, on top of what it otherwise would have been. (This assumes, for example, that over the next 40 years better health and technology reduce the productivity gap between older workers and their younger counterparts.) This 9% increase in gross domestic product would add more than $3 trillion a year, in today's dollars, to economic output.

Much like the muscle strength, research suggests that boomers will have the ability - and the desire - to work productively and innovatively well beyond today's normal retirement age.