Human capital of older workers: preservation through the formation of the working environment

Abstract

Importance: the concept of forming the economic usefulness of older workers by maintaining their competitiveness in the labor market. Purpose: through systematizing the conditions for capitalizing the potential of workers, to substantiate the possibility of qualifying older personnel as a current driver of economic growth and a compensatory category in the context of labor shortage. Research design: the problem situation consists in the contradiction between the universal definition of human capital as a set of competencies that possess economic properties but are intended for implementation in the future. For older workers, a refinement is expedient, focused on preserving accumulated knowledge and skills for their application in modern realities. The article presents the results of research on four aspects of this problem. The first is the characterization of the labor force as an object of competition with use value, considered by the employer from the standpoint of obtaining benefits. The second is the systematization of the characteristics of the age‑based labor force from the perspective of resource theory and age gradation of the bearers of the ability to work. The third aspect is a classification of conditions for transforming the potential of older workers into human capital. The fourth is a system of working environment indicators with their reflection in the organization’s reporting. Results: a version of extending the period of functioning of the human capital of older workers is substantiated through the following factors: diagnosis of potential; triune motive for labor activity; opportunity to realize professional skills; reduction of barriers to capitalizing potential. The indicators of the working environment are systematized with their reflection in the organization’s reporting. The algorithm for calculating the working environment index is substantiated.