The Boston College National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development
Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Michael A. Smyer, Ce Shen, Christina Matz, Katie Kane, and Jessica Johnson

Key Research Questions:

To what extent do employers identify the aging of the workforce as an important business issue?

Why do some employers respond to the needs and preferences of older workers while others do not?

What types of workplaces adopt and implement different flexible work options for older workers?

Study Status:

Data collection completed.

Selected Findings:

59% of employers indicated that managing workforce talent is a very important business strategy.

A majority (54%) of the employers noted that their organizations had made a link between workplace flexibility and overall business effectiveness; however, only 18% felt that this connection has been made to a "great"extent.

58% of the employers felt that their companies had to a "moderate/great" extent established different options that allow employees to work in a flexible manner, with 1 of every 5 (21.5%) indicating that their organizations had these options to a "great" extent.

58% of employers report their workplaces have analyzed the demographics of their workforces either "not at all" or to a "limited extent" as a way to get ready for the changing age demographics of their workforces.

Publications:

The Summary Report of the National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development will be available in February 2007. Issue Briefs about the following topics are scheduled for publication in Spring-Summer 2007: Employer Perspectives of Workplace Flexibility; The Responsiveness of Benchmark Organizations; The Responsiveness of Global and U.S.--only Organizations; The Responsiveness of For Profit and Not-for-Profit Organizations; The Responsiveness of Employers in Selected Industry Sectors.