--- title: Aging Employees: Report Says Businesses Should Hire Older Workers description: A labor shortage has left small businesses scrambling to fill jobs. New York health groups say there's an easy solution: hire older workers. canonical: https://time.com/3749223/nyc-health-groups/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-20T14:21:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:22.577Z article:section: Health og:title: Why NYC Wants to Put Old People to Work og:description: A labor shortage has left small businesses scrambling to fill jobs. New York health groups say there's an easy solution: hire older workers. og:url: https://time.com/3749223/nyc-health-groups/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why NYC Wants to Put Old People to Work twitter:description: A labor shortage has left small businesses scrambling to fill jobs. New York health groups say there's an easy solution: hire older workers. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Old People Should Be Part of NYC Workforce: Report > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=ba4d7339-47df-475e-b1da-97a9c6717e53&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Island That Holds the Secret to Long Life [Watch (HLS stream): The Island That Holds the Secret to Long Life](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/orlnwhNb.m3u8) (7:08)  _Published 2014-05-23. Here's how the people of Ikaria, Greece reach old age_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 20, 2015 2:21 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 20, 2015 2:21 PM UTC A skilled-labor shortage has left small businesses across the country scrambling to fill positions and New York City health organizations say there’s a simple solution: hire older workers. “Hiring, retaining and using older workers strategically can solve a variety of pressing problems that employers in our city face,” said Shauneequa Owusu, a health policy expert at the New York Academy of Medicine, which co-produced a new report with the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University and the Mayor’s office’s Age-Friendly New York City. **Read more:** [The New Age of Much Older Age](http://time.com/3706694/the-new-age-of-much-older-age/) The [report,](http://www.agesmartemployer.org/industry-guide/) published Wednesday, suggests that workers 55 or older can bring skill and expertise while only requiring minimal adjustment on the part of small businesses (technology training can get older workers up to speed quickly, the report found). At the same time, research suggests the workplace can benefit from age diversity, too. “There is evidence that mixed age teams in the workplace are more productive than teams of workers of the same age,” the authors write. “Many of the older adults that we speak with want and need to work. Furthermore, there’s growing evidence that it’s helpful to their healthy aging and wellbeing to continue working,” said report author Ruth Finkelstein at Columbia’s aging center. Recent research points to a clear association between being employed and improved mental, physical and emotional health, she said. The finding comes as more and more Americans want to avoid a traditional work-free retirement. According to the new research, 700,000 workers are older than 55 in New York City alone, and many say they do not plan to retire conventionally. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ]. Ikaria is a very unique island. The people are not what you would find in other places, they have a different lifestyle, a different way of looking at life. We might seem like we're not getting things done, or we might be moving slowly, but we just move at our own pace and things do get done in the end. Being Ikaria is an identity unto itself. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ] People wanna live long, it's natural. Life is a gift, and people want to enjoy it. [ MUSIC ] Unfortunately, you know, Athens is not a carrier. Athens is a big city, people are crowded, crowding alone is a major stress. It's difficult to live there, connected life. There is a lot of obesity, there is a lot of anxiety. We've started already to be seeing the results of stress. In Ikaria they're not crowded, they have the water right next to them. Just the environment where they live, it's better. [ FOREIGN ] [ INAUDIBLE ]. [ FOREIGN ]. It's the people of Ikaria that make the difference, the people are really for Ikaria. In Ikaria, it's cultural, it's an epicurean culture, they avoid stress, or cope well with it. When they cannot avoid it, they seek small pleasures. They live the day as it comes. So, somehow naturally, they're doing things that we should all be doing. [ FOREIGN ]. I got money from my uncle Giannis. He said to me, come with me for work, for one week and I will give you money, I said, okay. I went first three days, and then I said, I, I quit, I cannot do it anymore. I was waking up at 6 o'clock and working until, four, five and he was saying, come on, let's go, let's go until night. [ FOREIGN ]. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ]. In the documentaries they show only old people, they don't show nothing else, old people and the nature. They don't show the young people, what are they doing in their lives, you know? [ NOISE ]. I don't think that I would live so many years as them because, with the live that we are doing now it's, it's bad because we drink alcohol so much. We don't sleep good. [ NOISE ] [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ]. I'm looking forward to the people of Ikaria being able to come together, and work for the good of their island. And I'm also looking forward to the next generation, to see how they turn out and where they're going to be in 20 years time. I think it's gonna be a very interesting journey. We like the tradition of Ikaria, the history, the music, the culture, everything. We like it, and we trying, I think, my generation is trying to keep it, you know, not lose it. What I learn a lot from the older people is their sense of continuity, their strong sense of family, their strong sense of, my children have grown. I've seen my grandchildren, my life is complete, I'm fulfilled. They're not looking for new things. They're enjoying the things that they have in the moments they have. They're not looking for the next one, and the next one before they've actually enjoyed the present one. 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