How employers can unlock the potential of the longevity economy 

15 Jan 2024

Increasing longevity poses significant questions for the world – including the length of working lives and the type of support needed for a healthy and secure retirement.

First published by the World Economic Forum here.

More people are living longer and birth rates in most of the world are well below those needed to maintain a stable population. Increasing longevity is a sign of great advances in society, health and technology. But, it also poses profound questions for governments, communities and individuals, as well as employers considering the ways they attract, retain and retire the workforces powering our economies.

In collaboration with Mercer and the World Economic Forum, industry leaders have developed six principles for the longevity economy, these are:

  • 1. Ensure financial resilience across key life events.
  • 2. Provide universal access to impartial financial education.
  • 3. Prioritize healthy ageing as foundational for the longevity economy.
  • 4. Evolve jobs and lifelong skill-building for a multigenerational workforce.
  • 5. Design systems and environments for social connection and purpose.
  • 6. Intentionally address longevity inequalities, including across gender, race and class.

Key actions for employers to protect their workforce

Here, we focus on the role of the private sector. There are four key areas where employers can have a powerful impact on the lives of their employees and on our collective response to longevity – as well as actions that employers can take to address these areas. These are:

Embracing challenges through action

Actions that employers can take to address these challenges include:

Opportunities and challenges for employers in the longevity economy

  • Increasing lifespans present several major funding concerns for individuals, including access to healthcare, periods of being a caregiver or needing care and the sustained affordability of retirement.
  • Private sector employers are set to play a crucial role in enabling longer careers for those who would like to work longer, through more flexible employment opportunities.
  • Financial education and access to suitable savings, investments and insurance vehicles are vital to supporting workers as they plan for a healthy, happy and long retirement.
  • Increasing inequalities between health and wealth outcomes must be actively addressed to improve the retirement prospects of less advantaged socio-economic groups.

Proactively addressing the realities of the longevity economy brings many profound benefits to society, whether in a more productive and engaged workforce, a healthier population putting less strain on social systems or more people enjoying longer and less stressful retirements and contributing to the communities around them.

Longevity economy principles: The foundation for a financially resilient future

The six principles outlined in this report provide a holistic framework on how governments and employers can enable a financially resilient future for an aging world. 
About the author(s)
Lin Shi

Project Fellow, Longevity Economy, World Economic Forum

Graham Pearce

Global Defined Benefit Segment Leader