Their many years of know-how, high willingness to take on responsibility and for the most part already completed family planning make the so-called “golden workers” valuable employees for their company. This is one of the findings of the Trend Report , for which the Bonn Business Academy interviewed 100 HR experts about employees in the 50+ age group. In order to retain older employees in the company, 80% of respondents rely on flexible working time models and mentoring programs in which older employees pass on their experience to younger employees.

A large proportion of managers nevertheless fear that the predominant use of older employees could result in a cost explosion. Many HR managers also consider the associated increased health risks as negative, and they likewise tend to see older employees as less flexible. Few companies can however afford to do without them: the ever-increasing shortage of skilled workers is already an enormous obstacle to productivity today.