Currently 14% of people in NZ are aged 65 years or older, with that figure projected to increase to almost one million people – 25% of population - by 2026. One fifth of these people are currently in employment and this is projected to increase to 35% by 2020. By 2036, people 65+ will represent 9-15% of labour force or 240,000-500,000 of the population (Statistics NZ 2012). The largest growth will be in the next 20 years. There are a number of cognitive changes associated with increasing age. This will mean that people over 65 years will be working with attention, learning, memory and information speed that is slower or lower than in their earlier years. They will be wiser but slower. The implications for this for the work force and strategies for compensating for the changes will be illustrated through case studies.
