Age The average age of the U.S. workforce is rising and changing the distribution of age groups.

Between 1998 and 2008, the category of workers aged twenty-five to fifty-four years will grow 5.5 percent and the fifty five and over age category is expected to increase almost 48 percent. This skewed distribution is mostly the result of the baby boom between 1946 and 1964. As a result, organizations will face a predominantly middle-aged and older workforce. Even now, many organizations are reporting that the average age of their workforce is over forty. Such a distribution will place special demands on the organization. For example, the personal needs and work motivation of the different cohorts will require differentiated human resources practices. Older workers place heavy demands on health-care services, are less mobile, and will have fewer career advancement opportunities. This situation will require specialized work designs that account for physical capabilities of older workers, career development activities that address and use their experience, and benefit plans that accommodate their medical and psychological needs. Demand for younger workers, on the other hand, will be intense. To attract and retain this more mobile group, jobs will have to be more challenging, advancement opportunities more prevalent, and an enriched quality of work life more common. Organization development interventions, such as work design, wellness programs (discussed below), career planning and development, and reward systems must be adapted to these different age groups. For the older employee, work designs can reduce the physical components or increase the knowledge and experience components of a job. At Builder's Emporium, a chain of home improvement centers, the store clerk job was redesigned to eliminate heavy lifting by assigning night crews to replenish shelves and emphasizing sales ability instead of strength.

Table 21 Workforce Diversity Dimensions and Intervention Work force Difference Trends Implications And Needs Interventions Median age up distribution of ages changes Health care, mobility, security, Wellness program, job design, Career planning and development reward system. Gender Percentage of women increases Dual income families Child Care Maternity/paternity leave single parents Job design Fringe benefits Rewards Disability The number of people with disabilities entering the workforce increasing Job challenge Job skills Physical space Respect and dignity Performance management Job design Career planning and development Culture and Values Rising proportion of immigrant and minority group workers shift in rewards Flexible organizational policies Autonomy Affirmation Respect Career planning and development Employee involvement Reward system Sexual orientation Number of single sex households up More liberal Attitude towards sexual orientation Discrimination Equal employment Opportunities Fringe benefits Education and training Require more challenge and autonomy. Wellness programs can be used to address the physical and mental health of both generations. Career planning and development programs will have to recognize the different career stages of each cohort and offer resources tailored to that stage. Finally, reward system interventions may offer increased health benefits, time off, and other perks for the older worker while using promotion, ownership, and pay to attract and motivate the scarcer, younger workforce.

Gender Another important trend is the increasing percentage of female workers in the labor force. By the year 2008, almost 48 percent of the U.S. workforce will be women, and they will represent more than half of the new entrants between 1998 and 2008. The organizational implications of these trends are sobering. Three quarters of all working women are in their childbearing years, and more than half of all mothers work. Health-care costs will likely increase at even faster rates, and costs associated with absenteeism and turnover will rise. In addition, demands for child care, maternity and paternity leaves, and flexible working arrangements will place pressure on work systems to maintain productivity and teamwork. From a management perspective, there will be more men and women working together as peers, more women entering the executive ranks, greater diversity of management styles, and changing definitions of managerial success. Work design, reward systems, and career development are among the more important interventions for addressing issues arising out of the gender trend. For example, jobs can be modified to accommodate the special demands of working mothers. A number of organizations, such as Digital Equipment, Steel case, and Hewlett-Packard, have instituted job sharing, by which two people perform the tasks associated with one job. The firms have done this to allow their female employees to pursue both family and work careers.