Though some have the perception aging workers cannot perform as well as younger workers, Tracey Rizzuto, professor of human resource and leadership development, published information from research earlier this year and concluded older workers had the capacity to meet the standards of the modern workplace.

Some believe older workers are resistant to new technologies, but Rizzuto told The Daily Reveille in November cognitive declines do not occur until the 60s or 70s. The most damaging part of these perceptions is the aging population starts to believe them, she said.

Rizzuto said the fluid capacity of cognitive intelligence, which includes abilities like solving puzzles, diminishes earlier more so than the crystallized capacity of cognitive intelligence, which includes the ability to remember names and dates, which stays longer.

Employers can accommodate older workers’ decline in fluid intelligence by sending reminders for deadlines and can accommodate older workers’ physical setbacks by using computer programs offering larger fonts or higher image resolution.

Employers hire younger workers to adjust to the ever-changing work environment. Rizzuto said these workers may be more accustomed to using technology, but employers lose the cultivated skills older worker possess.

Companies implement strategies like early retirement to send out older workers and take in new, younger ones, but companies lose valuable expertise, she said.

“Trying to force older workers out can be incredibly damaging,” she said.

Rizzuto said it is possible for older workers to grasp new technologies. Older workers are accepting of new technologies, but they may need additional training because they are not used to using certain types of technology everyday.

Rizzuto said she now studies older adults who go back to school using online programs. She is looking at the challenges the older adults face, like using new technology and adjusting to school after having been out of school for a period of time.

“There is kind of this market of older adults going back to school,” Rizzuto said.

She also tries to find why the older adults are going back to school, like trying to better themselves.

Rizzuto is also studying the expertise of older workers in the oil field. Companies are about to lose many older workers who are retiring, and Rizzuto said while companies plan to simply hire large numbers of younger workers to fill positions, these workers lack the expertise.

The companies now must invest in mentorship programs, she said.